To Be a Hero
by Dancing Peony
Summary: Theoretically speaking, growing up around Eraserhead would make anyone pick up on his 'rationality' mumble-jumble. But of course Shiro finds that all rationality in her flies out the window when U.A. is involved... Or when Bakugou opens his mouth. She knew that becoming a hero wasn't going to be easy, but nothing can get in her way… Right? OC/?Pairing.
1. This Is What It Takes

**Hellooo :) It's 2018 and I'm back with a new story featuring our amazing heroes in BNHA! I really couldn't resist... This will mainly follow the anime, so there won't be any manga spoilers. Side note: Eraserhead and co. will be slightly older (~35-40) in this fic. Hope you guys enjoy** ❤

 **Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei_ | **Warning** : Bakugou will swear like a sailor throughout this fic.

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _this is what it takes_

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* * *

The day that she was born was the day _he_ wished she'd never existed.

* * *

The cawing of crows could be hear as they flew overhead and everything was still, saved for the few small creatures scurrying about in the woods. In the middle of it all, a girl with silver blue hair stood while exhaling tired huffs of breath. Her eyes were closed as she tried to sense for a certain presence, but she furrowed her brows when several moments passed and she got nothing. _Ugh. After all these attacks he suddenly went hide-and-seek on me!_

With a cluck of her tongue, she opened her eyes to reveal striking ruby orbs with the right one swirling with a white marking resembling a dial. _That should up my chances of finding him at least,_ she thought as she quickly made her way towards the direction of her target. Jumping from one low branch to another to avoid the prickly underbrush, she let her legs move as if she was being led. A flash of black and white caught the corner of her eyes and she smirked widely.

... _Gotcha!_

However, _finding_ someone and _catching_ someone was two different things. The man was still too fast for her to catch up. Growling, this time her left eye swirled with the same marking but black and the branch that her target was jumping to cracked and crumbled under his weight, faltering his movements momentarily. This allowed her to get close enough to propel her leg towards him for a gut kick.

"Take this!" she shouted, but at that split second, the white bandages around the man's neck shot forward towards her. Her left eye immediately began to swirl again and she redirected her foot while the other one kicked up, but he was still one step ahead of her and restrained it with his bandages. Not wanting to give up just yet despite running out of steam, she forced herself to concentrate fully at her capture as her eyes started to glow. However, before she could do anything, her capture activated his own Quirk and her ruby eyes abruptly faded back to normal.

Finding what was left of her power leave her body, she allowed herself to dangle upside down in defeat and blew at a lock of hair that was sticking to her cheek from the sweat.

The man, hanging onto a branch himself, lowered both of them to the ground safely before blinking again. He pulled out a stopwatch from his pocket and before the girl spoke another word, he showed her the numbers on the small device.

"5 minutes and 43 seconds. It took you longer to find me than usual and your moves lagged, Shiro."

"It's hard keeping up with all of your bandages whipping around and your totally unfair Quirk that keeps canceling out mine every time I use it," the girl huffed with arms crossed. "I was running out of energy."

"That's precisely why I told you to use your Quirk wisely. That last ditch effort would've depleted your energy completely and left you out in the open for more attack. You need to incorporate more of your physical strength," Aizawa Shota droned with boredom. "At this rate, you won't be able to keep up with the other examinees. Your potential is questionable at this point. Drop out of the exam."

"As if!" Shiro stuck her tongue out at her mentor and guardian. He simply looked at her coldly before turning to head out of the woods. Following behind with a skip, she vowed to defeat him one day. "First I'll pass the exam with flying colors, and then I'll become a Pro Hero before you can blink!"

"I can keep my eyes open for a very long time," he replied.

She snorted at his response and caught up to the man to return home together. People would often be surprised to find that the Pro Hero had raised her from when she was four, since he often expressed how much he disliked kids because they were "annoying and a pain in the ass". It wasn't like he was allowed to refuse anyway because the government ordered for him to take her in for reasons unknown to her, but most likely it was concerning her real family... Shiro couldn't remember anything about them, though. Not having a clue as to what happened to her family was always disheartening, but the feeling always dissipated when she realize just how much Aizawa cared for her in their stead.

"You'll be watching during the exam, right?"

"Yeah. Why are you asking?"

"Because!" she said quickly without looking at the man. There was a small blush coloring her cheeks, "...I want to make you proud, Eraserhead." She felt the Pro Hero's hand on her head and she smiled. She knew that was his own way of silently encouraging her.

Sure, the man was stern and lacked a word filter whenever he talked, but real family or not, Aizawa Shota was as close to it as that got.

* * *

 _8:40 A.M._

Shiro stood in front of the entrance of U.A. High School's hero course exam location and inhaled deeply. This school was a training ground for those whose goal is to acquire the necessary qualifications needed for pro heroes. Among similar courses across the country, theirs is the most popular and most competitive, and their acceptance rate is less than one in three hundred ever year. The nation's top three Pro Heroes all graduated from this school, so expectations for prospects were through the roof. Thus, the ones who pass the entrance exam must either show great potential or receive recommendation from powerful Pro Heroes themselves.

Unknown to the girl, she would've gotten in without taking the exam because of her affiliation with Aizawa and the nature of her training and Quirk use. However, that would've been taking the easy way in, and Aizawa secretly declined that possibility for her because he knew she was looking forward to showing how much she had improved.

Not wanting to fall behind all of the other students, Shiro entered the gates and was immediately overtaken by how grand the school was. _Woaaah, this place is so big!_ Her ruby eyes darted around the area before landing on two guys ahead of her. The blonde one sounded grouchy as he ordered the more timid guy with curly black hair and cute freckles to move out of his way. _That guy is intense,_ she thought but shrugged and was about to be on her way again when the timid guy _tripped on his own feet._

 _...Seriously?_ Shiro blinked and immediately her left eye swirled. The guy stopped his face-plant midway and she watched as a cute brunette went to ask if he was okay after holding him up with what looked like a gravity-defying Quirk. "He's gonna need some luck," she muttered to herself before heading into the stadium for the exam orientation.

"For all you examinee listeners tuning in, welcome to my show today! Everybody say _'Hey'!_ " the voice hero, Present Mic, shouted as everyone situated themselves in the stadium chairs. Shiro stifled a chuckle when the eccentric man received no response.

"What a refined response!" he continued on. "Then I'll quickly present to you the rundown on the practical exam! _Are you ready!_ " The cycle continued with silence from the audience as he presented crucial exam information while still being surprisingly energetic. When he mentioned the different exam locations and point system for the faux villains, Shiro peeked at her exam slip.

 _Hm, my battle location is—_

"May I ask a question?" A clear voice projected from within the audience, cutting off her thoughts. Present Mic pointed to the general direction and everyone looked over to see a well-built teen with glasses stand up stiffly at being called on. "There are four types of villains on the printout, but you only mentioned three types that will gain us points. If this is a misprint, then U.A., the most prominent school in Japan, should be ashamed of that foolish mistake. We examinees are here in this place because we wish to be molded into exemplary heroes! In addition," he suddenly turned and pointed to the curly haired guy Shiro saw at the school's entrance. "You with the curly hair! You've been muttering this whole time. It's distracting! If you're here on a pleasure trip, then you should leave immediately!"

As Present Mic tried to settle down the giggling crowd and went on explaining the significance of the fourth faux villain, the ruby eyed girl focused on the flustered boy and his irritated blonde haired friend with a slight frown. "He's not gonna make it..." she mused at last before looking away.

* * *

"What _is_ this?"

"It's like a city!"

"And they have more than one of these on the school grounds? U.A.'s amazing!"

Shiro looked up at the barrier that enclosed her assigned battle ground with surprise as well. Looking around, she saw many unfamiliar faces all containing nervousness or excitement or _both_ as they waited for the start of the 10-minute mock battle. Though, one face did stick out from the rest because it contained sheer murderous intent. _It's the intense blonde guy!_ she blinked, wondering if getting the same battle ground as him was a good thing or not.

As if he could sense her staring, he whipped his head around and sneered at her with pure menace. "What're _you_ looking at, Pigtails?"

Surprised and just a little offended, she opened her mouth just as Present Mic shouted out of the blue for the examinees to start. At the hero's command, the blonde immediately turned back around and _"move you fucking extras!"_ was the last thing she heard from him before he disappeared within the crowd.

Though she wanted to say something snarky back to the unpleasant blonde, that will have to wait until after she was done destroying these faux villains. _I can't get behind already!_

Like the other students, Shiro split from the group to use her own technique to find and lure out the villains, and she didn't need to get too far before an explosion blasted from her right. "Two pointer!" she shouted and got ready to attack. Remembering Aizawa's words, she quickly picked up a broken metal pipe from the crumbling building as the villain raised its large arm at her and slammed down. The smoke cleared as the crumbled cement below the metal arm revealed no one. The girl had propelled herself in the air just seconds before the arm landed and now it was her turn to attack. Using the metal pipe, she swung it with full force and the head blew off into the distance, effectively destroying the villain and earning herself two points.

"I'd say that was a homerun," she landed back on the ground with a satisfied nod.

It went on like this for the next three minutes as she found multiple one and two pointers the farther she ran into the city. Explosions sounded left and right as the villains went down with each blow from different people, but the most distinct one she heard _quite frequently_ was the one that sounded like firecrackers and followed by a _"die!"._ She knew that had to be the unpleasant blonde, and although she didn't want to admit it, he was really good. From the sound of it, he was racking up more points than anyone in this battle ground.

Shaking her head, she focused back on herself. Many faux villains have been struck down already and it was getting harder to find alive ones with so many examinees around. Allowing her right eye to activate, she turned a corner towards a villain only to witness a gray haired guy literally perforate through a one pointer with his own body. _What the... His body is made of steel!_

"That's 32! Hell yeah!" the gray haired guy shouted victoriously as the bot fell. On the other side, a ginger haired girl used her gigantic hand to smash another villain before dashing off.

 _I need to catch up!_ Shiro frowned and quickened her pace towards the direction leading directly to another one point villain. Destroying it along with what remained of her metal pipe, she was forced to quickly search for a new weapon. As she bent down to pick one up, a three pointer burst out from the side and nearly crushed her with its robotic arm. She rolled away unscathed and grinned. "Still slower than Eraserhead... But when I destroy you, I'll have 30 points!" she jumped towards the wrecked building to gain height above the villain. "D—"

 _"DIE!"_

The body of the bot blew apart into pieces as the blonde from before jumped out from the smoke of his firecracker explosion. His sharp red eyes flashed towards her disbelieving ones before a scowl made its way to his already angry face. "What?" he barked before picking up movement of another villain nearby. "Don't get in my way, Pigtails!" he ordered and dashed off.

 _...That's it!_

Shiro let out a growl and followed behind him. If he was going to take her points, she was going to do the same! She tightened the grip on the new pipe in her hand and spotted the villain—a three pointer. What was it that Present Mic said? They weren't allowed to use their Quirk to harm other examinees... _So this'll_ _have_ _to_ _do!_ The black dial in her left eye swirled wildly as she concentrated, and before the blonde was able to land his attack, the bot suddenly adverted itself away from him and plowed straight towards _her_ instead.

"What the hell?!" he shouted as he chased behind the bot, but Shiro was now closer. In one powerful swing, the head broke off and the body malfunctioned. _"What?!"_

Satisfied at how pissed off her fellow examinee looked, she turned away from him and flipped a long pigtail over her shoulder. "Don't get in _my_ way, Prickhead!" she shot back and jumped off the heap of shattered villain parts.

"You fucking shit—!"

"THREE MORE MINUTES!"

"After I'm done with these fucking bots, I'm gonna fucking tear off those pigtails, Pigtails!" he shouted behind her. Shiro chose to ignore him for the time being because she needed to focus on finding more villains to destroy before time was up. She doubted 30 points was going to cut it, especially since Prickhead was sure to have way more than her.

Switching to use her right eye again, she focused on finding the locations of the remaining villains. There were fewer explosions that signaled a defeat of a bot, so she knew that the numbers were dwindling. She just had to find the last ones and destroy it before the rest of the examinees did.

Suddenly, there was a loud rumble and the entire ground shook. The transmission lines ahead of her began to snap and smoke rose to the air as that particular block of infrastructure began to crumble from the disturbance. A villain many times the size of the other three _combined_ was the source of it all, and it was starting to wreak havoc as it headed toward where all the other examinees were running.

"No way, is that...?"

"The obstacle that Present Mic advised us to avoid. The zero pointer."

Shiro snapped her head at the voice besides her. A male with messy indigo hair and baggy eyes was looking up at the monster villain before tuning to her with a bored look. While the other examinees, including herself, showed visible signs that they've been running around killing bots for the past seven and a half minutes, he looked as if he hadn't moved a hair on his body this entire time.

"I've noticed you fighting the villains with weapons from the debris, though it doesn't look like you possess super strength or enhanced ability when using it to hit your targets," he noted with a hint of curiosity. "Are you even using a Quirk? Or are you Quirkless?"

She was just about to say something when the giant knocked a chunk of wall from a brick building and it was flying towards them at full speed.

"Watch out!" she shouted instead, and the indigo haired male got his answer when he saw her left eye glow faintly with the spinning dial and she pushed him away just far enough so that the debris wouldn't crush them. However, while she managed to keep him from harm completely, she unavoidably had the corner of the wall slam into her right shoulder.

He stumbled a few feet back from shock when she released him, "Why did you do that—?"

"We're trying to be heroes, aren't we? That's what we're supposed to do," Shiro replied with a small hiss of pain when she shrugged.

 _Bad idea,_ she thought. How was she going to fight villains now that her dominant limb hurt every time she moved it? But since she couldn't find herself to regret her choice of action, she decided she'll just have to internalize the pain and do the best she can with what was left on the clock.

"By the way, I'm not Quirkless. I just can't use mine the same way most heroes use their Quirks, but that's not going to stop me from becoming a hero, y'know? Anyway, see ya around!" she answered before setting off, not realizing how much her words resonated with the male.

* * *

"TIME'S UP!"

A siren rung across all of the battle grounds as Present Mic announced that the first part of the exam was over. The examinees either looked victorious because they felt they gained enough points, or defeated because they didn't.

Shiro gritted her teeth. She only managed to defeat one more two pointer because of her injury. She probabily could've knocked at least two more out if it didn't feel like her right arm was going to fall off any second... As she made her way to the front where everyone else was gathering, she saw that _Prickhead_ was looking pretty smug with his villain haul.

 _...Will 32 points possibly be enough to pass?_ she frowned, too scared to use her Quirk to figure that one out.

* * *

After the practical exam, Recovery Girl had healed Shiro's shoulder up and it was like the injury never took place. The old woman stated that the impact of the debris had actually cracked her shoulder blade bone, so she wouldn't have been able to continue to swing at those villains with full force anyway.

When she returned home after completing the written part of U.A.'s exam that day, she was greeted with a note from Aizawa excusing his absence for the next week because of his duty as one of the monitors of the entrance exam. He and a panel of other Pro Heroes were finalizing the scores from both the practical and the written and determining who passed or not.

Realization of what that meant had hit her like a brick and she was barely recovering from this one.

With _"What if my score was too low to pass?!"_ and _"Eraserhead saw the entire thing!"_ constantly swirling around in her mind, she lived her week out like a walking zombie. It wasn't that being rejected by U.A. was what scared her the most, it was more so that she didn't want to disappoint Aizawa. Especially after she talked all that big talk about becoming a pro...

There was a single knock on the front door and she slid herself off the sofa slowly before realizing that it was around the time the mailman came around. Scrambling to open the door, she was greeted with a small stack of mail on the top step. Sandwiched neatly between the others was a small, but thick white envelope with U.A.'s wax seal on it.

 _I-It's here...!_

She barely made it past the living room before she ripped the envelope and a metal device rolled out and landed on the floor. Immediately, it glowed a bright white light and projected a hologram of All Might.

 _"Young Aizawa Shiragiku! Wait, it's Ai_ _ **saka**_ _? Why didn't she just take your family name? Eh? Eh?"_

Shiro blinked with wide eyes at the projection of the number one Pro Hero who seemed to be looking off-screen and talking to someone; she knew immediately that he was talking to Aizawa because of his questions. "Shiragiku" was her actual given name, but it was Aizawa who started calling her "Shiro" for short, and it stuck. And since she never knew her real family name and there was a rebel period in her childhood in which she refused to take "Aizawa" because the Pro Hero was so strict and mean, she declared her own. Though, it was obvious even back then that she looked up to him from the similarity.

 _"Alright... Ehem!"_ All Might then cleared his throat and continued with his announcement after being rushed to hurry up. _"Young Aisaka! You passed the written exam with an exceptional score, but the points you got from the practical exam was just average."_

There was a longer than necessary pause on the hero's part and Shiro bit her lips nervously.

 _"However! Like I told another young hero, a hero course cannot reject people who saved others and do the right thing. As you know, there was a panel of judges who overlooked each examinee's performance, but what you didn't know was that they have the ability to give out rescue points! Eraserhead was of course excluded from your assessment, but your selfless action for Young Shinso showed the judges one of other basic abilities we at U.A. look at!"_

 _Wait, so is he saying...?_

 _"Aisaka Shiragiku, you received 45 rescue points! In other words, you pass,"_ All Might announced with a grin while the image of the top ten leaderboard flashed before her eyes. She saw some of the names on the list and grew curious at this "Midoriya Izuku" person who got zero villain points but 60 rescue points. But more surprising than that... Her final score was tied with this "Bakugou Katsuki" person who was _first_ with his score of 77 villain points and zero rescue points!

 _Am I just imagining this?_ she wondered and pinched her cheek. It hurt. _T-This is real life!_

 _"Before I go, Young Aisaka, there is one more thing..."_

Shiro leaned in with anticipation as the Pro Hero once again stalled for a few moments. But instead of finally revealing what it was that he wanted to say, he held up his hand in a "hold on" motion. There was a sound of the door opening, but she quickly realized that it wasn't from the hologram when she felt a presence walk up from behind and she turned around in surprise. "...Eraserhead?"

The tired looking Pro Hero gave her a grin and ruffled her hair.

"Welcome to U.A., kid."

* * *

 **How was it? Please leave a review :) Shiro's Quirk wil be revealed in the next chapter; for now, here is her personal profile!**

 **Name** : Aisaka Shiragiku (相坂 白菊) | Shiro (白)

 **Birthday** : December 21

 **Age** : 15

 **Gender** : Female

 **Height** : 162 cm (5'4")

 **Hair color** : Silver blue

 **Eye color** : Red

 **Blood type** : AB

 **Quirk** : TBA

 **Birthplace** : Unknown

 **Family** : Aizawa Shota (guardian/mentor)

 **Affiliation** : U.A. High School


	2. Do the Best With What You Have

**Thanks for the lovely reviews! It was very encouraging so I was fast with this chapter! Please continue to support :)**

 **Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _do the best with what you have_

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Today was the beginning of Shiro's high school career at U.A.

"I can't be believe how big this place is..." she mumbled as she made her way down the hallway. Aizawa had told her that the admitted students were split up into two classes for the hero course, and she was assigned to class 1-A. When she found the classroom, she was caught by surprise upon seeing a familiar curly haired boy standing before the giant door. "It's you!" she blurted. Walking up to the boy, she proceeded to examine him like a wolf circling around a defenseless sheep. "I didn't think you'd actually make it this far since you couldn't even keep yourself from tripping on your own feet... Just who are you?" she was mumbling more to herself than anything, but of course the male under scrutiny heard and cowered even lowered under her ruby gaze.

"I-I'm Midoriya..."

"I guess I was wrong about you, Midoriya-san..." she said at last with her lips quirked. He still looked slightly hesitant, though, but it was because he was staring at what's behind the door. "What? You can't possibly be scared of..." she nonchalantly pulled open the door and her eyebrows shot up at the scene before her.

"Don't put your feet on the desk! Don't you think that's rude to the U.A. upperclassmen and the people who made the desk?"

 _I can't tell if he's inherently lucky or unlucky,_ Shiro gave the curly haired male long stare, understanding now why his nerves where so high upon seeing the face of the two people who weren't the nicest to him during the exam. _Speaking of rude people..._

"Not at all! What junior high did you go to, you side character?" the blonde sneered as his feet slammed on the top of the desk. The bespectacled male frowned and gestured at himself stiffly while extending his other hand out.

"I attended Somei Private Academy. My name is Iida Tenya."

" _Somei?_ So you're a damn elite, huh?" the blonde leaned forward threateningly. "Looks like I'll have fun crushing you!"

"He doesn't even sound like he wants to be a hero," Shiro rolled her eyes.

Midoriya squeaked at her blunt and _loud_ comment that garnered both of the males' attention towards the door. Iida recognized the head of curls right away and marched towards them. "Good morning! I am from Somei—"

"W-We heard!" Midoriya said before waving his hands in front of him apologetically for the abrupt reply. "Nice to meet you, Iida-kun. I'm Midoriya Izuku."

Shiro binked when she realized that the bespectacled male was then looking at her expectantly. "I'm Aisaka Shiragiku," she introduced herself formally to the entire class. It was full of unfamiliar faces. _I didn't see any of them at my battle ground except Prickhead. I wonder what their abilities are..._

"Hey, she's the person who tied with Bakugou on the leaderboard!"

Kaminari Denki, another blonde with a black bolt across one side of his hair, called out, nudging his red haired seatmate. "Dang, I was bumped down to third because of her! Cool!" Kirishima Eijiro raised a hand and it immediately hardened like blocks. "Bakugou, you have a rival!"

Prickhead, now named Bakugou, snorted as he drew his piercing eyes to the red haired male with contempt. "I'm a hundred times stronger than Pigtails!"

"Stop calling me that!" Shiro narrowed her eyes as her left one flashed, causing the chair he was leaning back on to topple over. Regrettably, he was able to catch himself with a hand and pushed himself off from falling.

He glared at her as sparks started flickering from his palms.

"K-Kacchan—" Midoriya tried to stop the fight but that only made Bakugou grow angrier.

"Shut the hell up, _Deku._ I'll beat you up too!"

"E-Eep!" the boy jolted. Taking a few steps back with fear, he accidentally bumped into a cheery brunette walking through the door.

"Ah, you're the plain looking one! You passed just like Present Mic said!" she mused and went on narrating the awe she felt during the entrance exam animately to Midoriya, not realizing that the tension was extremely high between her two other classmates. "But of course, that punch was so cool! It was like—! And like—!"

"I'm not done with you!" Bakugou scowled in annoyance, raising his palm again but this time the sparks didn't come out. His fiery eyes immediately darted to Shiro. _She's like that shitty nerd Deku! Getting on my nerves!_ "Did you use dirty tricks like this to get in, huh?"

Shiro got ready to dodge whatever he was going to throw at her, but she also furrowed her brows critically. _That certainly wasn't my doing..._

"Go somewhere else if you want to recklessly start fights."

The all too familiar drone of a certain Pro Hero made Shiro and the others turned their head towards the entrance of the classroom. Wrapped in a yellow sleeping bag like a cocoon, Aizawa stared at his students coldly before unzipping the bag to reveal a juice pouch. "This is the hero course."

 _Don't tell me Eraserhead's our homeroom teacher?!_

"It took eight seconds before you were quiet. Time is limited. You kids are not rational enough," he said. "I'm your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shota. Nice to meet you." Small murmurs of surprise sounded within the classroom as the worn out man got out of his sleeping bag and pulled out what looked like a gym suit. "It's kind of sudden, but put this on and go out onto the field."

One by one, the students grabbed a suit and quickly filed out of the classroom. Shiro was the last to take hers and stopped briefly to question the Pro Hero. "Since when did you become _our_ homeroom teacher? And you were the one behind erasing his Quirk, weren't you?"

"Since always. Did I forget to mention that to you?" Aizawa stated unapologetically before giving her a disapproving frown. "It's my job to prevent you brats from getting carried away with using your Quirks. You of all people should know that, Shiro."

"It's not like what I did back there would actually hurt him," she puffed her cheeks stubbornly before leaving to catch up with the rest of her classmates. Aizawa watched her go with a sigh.

 _Her emotions are still as irrational as ever._

* * *

"A Quirk assessment test?!"

"What about the entrance ceremony? The orientation?" The brunette with the round face, Uraraka Ochaco, asked with wide eyes. Shiro remembered that the girl was excitedly talking about that at the start of class, but it seems like U.A. doesn't run things the conventional way.

"If you're going to become a hero, you don't have time for such leisurely events. U.A.'s selling point is how unrestricted its school traditions are. That's also how the teachers run their classes," Aizawa explained tiredly and motioned to the training ground that was set up to do various tests. "You kids have been doing these since junior high, too, right? Physical fitness tests where you weren't allowed to use your Quirks. The country still uses averages taken from results from students not using their Quirks, but that's not rational. Well, the Ministry of Education is procrastinating. Bakugou."

At the sound of his name being called, the male stepped forward with a raised brow.

"You were going to use your Quirk earlier against another classmate," he stated with hands in his pockets. "While this is a hero course to train your Quirks, the classroom still runs normally. You are only to use your Quirks freely during training sessions," he started to reprimand but then continued to his point. "Well, this is one of them. What was your best result for the softball throw in junior high?"

Bakugou stared at the Pro Hero with a slightly confused scowl but answered nonetheless. "67 meters."

"Try to do it with your Quirk. Do whatever you want as long as you stay in the circle. Hurry up."

The blonde picked up the ball and stepped into the circle. A smirk was present on his face as he stretched out his arms. "Well, then..." he concentrated and swung his arm back before adding a fiery blast behind his throw. "Die...!"

Everyone seemed to blink at the blonde's unconventional expression but Aizawa merely clicked something on his recording device as the ball soared far into the distance before dropping. "Know your maximum first," he said and turned to the rest with the score. "That's the most rational way to form the foundation of a hero."

"Woah! He hit 705.2 meters!" Kirishima and a few others chorused in awe.

"Show off," Shiro muttered among the chatter, but she was impressed as well. Next to her, the pink haired and skinned girl jumped with excitement.

"It looks fun!"

"So we can use our Quirks as much as we want for these things," another one of her classmates grinned. "As expected from the hero course!"

The Pro Hero stared at the students with boredom. "'It looks fun', huh? You have three years to become a hero. Will you have an attitude like that the whole time?" he asked, his tone and expression all too familiar to Shiro and she knew he was going to say something that would put pressure on them all. "All right. Whoever comes in last place in all eight tests will be judged to have no potential and will be punished with expulsion."

"W-WHAT?!" the students cried altogether.

 _That's how Eraserhead is,_ Shiro sighed. She knew he was serious about it, so she was definitely _not_ going to risk being expelled after the first day.

On the other side of her, Midoriya was gripping his hand with an indescribable look of dread and anxiety.

"I'll have you know that for the next three years... U.A. will run you through the wringer. That's _'Plus Ultra'._ Use your strength to overcome it all. So bring it!"

* * *

 _Test 1: 50-meter dash!_

The students of class 1-A were paired up randomly and all lined up behind one another to wait their turns. Since they had an odd number of students, one of them was to go alone. A robotic camera and timer stood on the other side to record their scores, and Shiro watched carefully to observe her classmates before her turn.

Iida and a frog-like girl named Asui Tsuyu prepared themselves before the clicker sounded and they both took off. With his engine like calves, Iida passed the finish line in 3.04 seconds while Tsuyu hopped over in 5.58 seconds.

 _Iida Tenya, Quirk: Engine. Asui Tsuyu, Quirk: Frog Form._

Next, Uraraka and Ojiro Mashirao went. Shiro saw that the girl was tapping her body to lighten herself up before starting, and she was just a few seconds off behind Ojiro when she reached the finish line.

 _Uraraka Ochaco, Quirk: Zero Gravity. Ojiro Mashirao, Quirk: Tail._

 _Aoyama Yuga, Quirk: Navel Laser. Ashido Mina, Quirk: Acid._

"On your mark..."

It was Shiro's turn now, and she bent and raised her body up slightly to get a good starting form. Looking ahead with her ruby eyes focused, she took off when the clicker sounded.

"6.17 seconds."

"Not too bad," she huffed at the other side; Jiro was just a second behind her. It was a good thing that she's been training her body physically throughout the years, otherwise she was going to be the one to get left behind with all these amazing Quirks around her.

Then, she watched as Bakugou and Midoriya stepped up to the start line. She looked curiously at the curly haired male, wondering what kind of Quirk he had. If she remembered correctly, he was the one who received 60 rescue points while not gaining a single villain point during the practical exam. Loud explosions from Bakugou boomed as the blonde used his sparks to propel him forward; on the other hand, Midoriya was just running with all his might. The two reached the finish line with a two second difference.

 _What is his Quirk, exactly?_ Shiro wondered.

* * *

The following three tests went pretty well for Shiro in terms of matching up in strength and agility against the classmates who didn't specialize in it as a Quirk, but for each of those tests she found a different classmate who really excelled and rose above the others.

The fifth test was the ball throw again, and after Uraraka threw an infinity, she realized that using her own strength wasn't going to cut it for this test if she wanted to keep herself out of the bottom ranks.

Stepping up to the circle, she took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. She could feel the gazes of her classmates, along with Aizawa's, on her. Her Quirk wasn't physical like Bakugou's or gravity-defying like Uraraka's, but there was one thing about it that can assist her with this test. Making herself concentrate fully, her eyes then opened up to reveal the markings in both of her ruby orbs spinning wildly. Everyone felt weird waves around them for a split second before it disappeared as she drew her arm back and shot the ball forward.

Everyone watched with eyes growing bigger as the ball _disappeared_ the second it was in the air. They whipped their heads to Aizawa just as he showed them the final score. It wasn't an infinity, but...

"299,791,819 meters?! That's the second highest score!" Kaminari gasped. Were the girls in this class all this amazing?!

"What kind of Quirk is that?" Kirishima asked, seemingly fired up with her display. "It's awesome!"

"Did you make the ball disappear?"

"Yeah, how did it get so far?"

At the onslaught of curious questions from her classmates, Shiro shook her head at their assumptions and tried to explain what she did. "It wasn't that the ball disappeared... I just changed one second of the ball's original velocity to that of the speed of light."

"...Huh?!" they all chorused.

 _Aisaka Shiragiku, Quirk: Probability Manipulation._

 _She is able to calculate the probability of anything happening with this Quirk as well as changing it. When her right eye spins with a white dial, she can increase or decrease the probability of good luck while the black dial in her left eye can increase or decrease the probability of bad luck/harm. This is limited to how many times it can be used with a given reserve of energy, and the possibility of a given event must be above 0%._

 _However, as demonstrated, activating both of the dials in her eyes twists the probability field in a way that she is able to briefly rewrite any reality on a desired object upon contact. The more extreme the change, the larger the amount of stamina and emotion is required, so she is currently only able to perform this sparingly..._

Shiro gave them all a small shrug and stepped out of the circle. "You're up next..." she called out to Midoriya, but then she noticed that he had a look of panic and was sweating bullets. "Hey, my Quirk isn't always the most useful because it isn't physical, but I make do. If that's the case for you, just do your best with what you have."

Midoriya trudged to the circle at her attempted encouragement. _It's not something simple that I can just do..._ He picked up a ball and stared at it nervously. _All that's left is this, the long-distance run, sit-ups, and the seated toe-touch. If I want to use_ _ **it**_ _..._

 _It's now or never,_ he thought and made up his mind.

"It doesn't look good for Midoriya-kun if he continues like this," Iida commented, his arms crossed with worry. All of the boy's scores had been average at best, so it was certain that he was one of the bottom few scorers. Bakugou snorted.

"Of course not. He's a Quirkless small fry, you know!"

"He's really Quirkless?" Shiro repeated with a blink. Iida immediately shook his head and gave them an astonished brow raise.

"Are you two not aware of what he did in the entrance exam?!"

"We had a different exam location..." Shiro mumbled as she focused back on Midoriya with interest. The boy had taken a step up in the circle while drawing his arm back and she saw the veins under his skin glow with power. She could practically _feel_ the growing strength behind it; but just like that, it disappeared right before he threw the ball out. It landed unimpressively at only 46 meters, and she looked at Aizawa to confirm her suspicions.

The man's eyes were unblinking.

"I-I was definitely about to use it just now..." Midoriya stared down at his two trembling hands. "Why...!"

"I erased your Quirk," Aizawa stated simply as the bandages around his neck unraveled to reveal the signature goggles under it; his black hair waving up with the floating bandages and his eyes shone red. "That entrance exam was definitely not rational enough that even a kid like you was accepted."

"You erased my...? Those goggles!" the boy gasped in realization. "You're The Erasure Hero: Eraserhead!"

Shiro was surprised that Midoriya knew who the Pro Hero was, since most of her other classmates seemed to not have much recognition. It was to be expected since the hero worked underground and captured villains in the shadows of the night so he could avoid the media and limelight... But back to her concern at hand. Why did Aizawa erase the boy's Quirk if he was the one who said that they could use it any way they wanted during training?

"From what I can tell, you can't control your Quirk, can you? Do you intend to become incapacitated again and have someone save you?"

"Th-That's not my intention—"

The hero's bandages shot out and wrapped around the boy and pulled him forward threateningly. "Whatever your intention, I'm saying that's what those around you will be forced to do. In the past, there was an oppressively passionate hero who saved over a thousand people by himself and created a legend. Even if you have the same reckless valor, you'll just be decked and turned into a useless doll after saving one person. Midoriya Izuku, with your power, you _can't_ become a hero."

There was a second of silence as Midoriya's head drooped in defeat.

"I've returned your Quirk. You have two turns for the ball throw. Hurry up and get it over with," Aizawa said before walking away.

"It looks like he got some advice...?" Iida wondered and Bakugou rolled his eyes.

"Tch. Probably just telling him he's expelled."

The discouraged male in question was currently mumbling to himself with doubt, and as he mumbled on, Shiro could tell that the other students were growing restless and Aizawa was getting impatient. Her impression of Midoriya Izuku hasn't been all that impressive if she were to tell the truth, but if there was anything to learn from Aizawa's constant "let-downs" in the past, it was to never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.

 _If he can just keep in mind to do the best with what he has..._ she mused as he stepped up to the plate again. _Then I think he'll have a higher probability of overcoming it._

It was a similar scene before her, but this time, only Midoriya's index finger seemed to be emitting that powerful glow and when he released the ball, there was an incredible force behind it. It took a few moments for the device to register the total distance, and when it did, it read 705.3 meters.

"Sensei..." Midoriya staggered slightly as he lifted the arm he used to throw the ball. Clenching his lips from the pain emitting from his index finger, he looked confidently at Aizawa. "I... I can still move!"

 _Well... I'd say he did it,_ Shiro was clapping internally for the boy after she saw the look on Aizawa's face.

The hero was impressed.

But Bakugou? Not so much.

"What is the meaning of this?" Sparks exploded from the hot-head's palms as he dashed over to the cowering boy. "Tell me what's going on, Deku, you bastard!"

 _What's up with him always being so against Midoriya..._ Shiro rolled her eyes as she counted down the seconds before the male was apprehended by Aizawa's bandages. She's been on the receiving end of the hero's weapon of capture many times before, and she knew how hard it was to escape those carbon fibers as she watched the blonde struggle fruitlessly.

"Jeez..." Aizawa sighed in annoyance before letting the stunned male go again. "Don't keep making me use my Quirk over and over. I have dry eye!"

* * *

After the ball throw, the fitness tests continued on in relative peace. However, while fighting against the pain of his swelled finger, Midoriya consistently scored at the bottom for the remaining three tests. At the end, the students of 1-A gathered around Aizawa as he announced the results.

Shiro searched for her name on the digital list that was projected before them and found herself ranked tenth out of 21 total students. _I made it,_ she let out a sigh of relief before looking at the list again for another name. Just as she thought, the person at last place was Midoriya, and like they were warned earlier...

"Last place will be expelled...?" Midoriya whispered besides her with trembling hands. Shiro empathized with the curly haired male, but there was nothing she could do to help when it came to Aizawa's high expectations and rules.

"By the way, I was lying about the expulsion," Aizawa clicked on his device and the screen disappeared before them. His expression morphed into a smug grin, "It was a rational deception to draw out the upper limits of your Quirks."

 _"WHAT?!"_ Many of them, and especially Midoriya, screamed in shock at the realization. A busty girl with a spiked up ponytail voiced her concern at her classmates _'_ surprise.

"It should've been obvious if you just thought it through," she claimed. The others who were stunned into silence continued to silently mule over their homeroom teacher's nerve-wracking ruse. They really thought it was real!

 _He was_ _ **definitely**_ _serious about it, though,_ Shiro thought to herself as Aizawa dismissed them back to the classroom for the regularly scheduled curriculum. _But Midoriya managed to impress him, so maybe..._

"Midoriya," Aizawa called before leaving and handed the boy a slip of paper. "Have the old lady fix you in the nurse's office. Tomorrow will be packed with even more rigorous tests. Prepare yourself."

Watching the determined look on Midoriya's face grow as he gripped the sheet of paper, Shiro gained a new impression of him that day.

Whether Midoriya Izuku was inherently lucky or unlucky in getting into U.A., it doesn't change the fact that he did. He's not that impressive and he still has a lot to learn if he wants to make it in the hero course, but he was a noteworthy individual if Aizawa thought he had potential to stay.

* * *

 **I don't think I've come across any OCs with _Probability_ _Manipulation_ as a Quirk, so hopefully I'm original enough ^_^ Also, 299,791,819m=distance of the speed of light/second, which means that Shiro's throw landed halfway across the world because that distance=7.5 times the length of earth!**

 **Get hyped for the next arc ;) Please review ~**


	3. Deku, Like You Can Do It!

**Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _deku, like 'you can do it'!_

.

.

.

"Go away."

"But we're going to the exact same place," Shiro said with her chin in her palm. She had managed to find the staff office after school let out and was sitting across from Aizawa and watching as he filled out something on his desk. "I'll just wait until you're done!"

"Students aren't allowed in here. There's top secret information enclosed within these walls," Aizawa droned as he flipped the sheet over after he finished filling it out. It was just the recorded scores from the fitness tests they did.

"First about the expulsion and now this... I think you're getting worse at lying," she said and blew at a fringe that was blocking her eye. She frowned at the thought, "And, from what I can tell, our class got a pretty scary impression of you because of it."

"Good," he replied. "You're not here to make friends. Being a hero doesn't mean you'll be spoon-fed with praises and glamour all the time. It's dangerous. It's only rational to make sure that you guys know this from the start."

Shiro sighed. That was always a typical response from the Pro Hero regarding everything. Sometimes, she felt that the man was _too_ straightforward and rational about things. He had a way of draining the excitement out of things and replacing it with stress. Well, she was used to it, but she was also too stubborn for her own good.

The chair the girl was sitting at scrapped across the floor as she stood up. Aizawa looked up briefly.

"Where are you going?"

"I've decided I want to make some friends," she said and stuck a tongue out at him before heading out the door. "I can't do that if my classmates see me with you. You'll scare them away!"

 _Tch..._ the hero went back to his paperwork. _How irrational._

* * *

Shiro was running to school the next day because she nearly overslept her alarm. The Pro Hero was long gone when she woke and she realized that she had less than 30 minutes to get to school. _I can't believe he just left without me!_

It was probably his way of getting back at what she said to him yesterday.

 _And he says I'm a kid,_ the girl huffed. When she was close enough to school grounds with enough time to spare, she slowed down and looked around for familiar faces of her classmates. She was actually pretty nervous. _Should I increase my probability of making friends...? Just in case?_

"Aisaka-chan!"

She jolted as a hand tapped her on the shoulder. Turning around, she was met with the smiling face of Uraraka. Behind her, Midoriya waved timidly as Iida gave her a short nod.

"Good morning, Aisaka-chan!" Uraraka greeted again. Shiro noted that the girl was always super bubbly. "Wanna head to class together with me, Iida-kun, and Deku-kun?"

"'Deku'?" Shiro repeated blankly.

The male in question started to sputter nervously as he tried to explain. "It's a nickname that Kacchan calls me to make fun of me, but Izuku is my real name! Um, b-but Uraraka-san said that it sounds like 'you can do it', so..." He poked his two fingers together bashfully.

"He accepted it way too easily," Iida shook his head.

"...Deku," Shiro, on the other hand, nodded understandingly at the explanation. "I guess it rolls off the tongue well."

"A-Ah! Thanks Aisaka-san!" Midoriya cried.

"Shiro is fine," she requested and the boy nodded furiously with a blush. Iida then commented that class was going to start soon and advised for them to head in. Uraraka pulled on her arm and chattered along the way as they all made it inside the building. Shiro was getting along with the three quite quickly...

It looked like she didn't need to use her Quirk after all.

* * *

According to U.A.'s curriculum, hero basic training didn't start until the afternoon. Regular required classes like English and History were taught in the morning by different Pro Heroes, and it was all surprisingly normal.

When lunch time came around, they all went to the main cafeteria, where students from courses other than the hero course also gathered to buy gourmet food made by The Lunch Hero: Lunch Rush himself, all for reasonable prices. Shiro was ever so glad to have made friends with Midoriya and them in the morning, because otherwise she might have to sit alone at an empty lunch table. Though she supposed that everyone in class 1-A were pretty nice... All except Bakugou, of course.

"Shove it, Deku."

They were on their way back to the classroom for their awaited hero training when Midoriya jumped to the side immediately at the barked order and allowed the angry blonde to pass. Shiro had found him to be increasingly unpleasant within the short amount of time that she's gotten to know him, and she couldn't help but scoff at his terrible attitude as he walked ahead of them through the door. The male paused and leaned forward with a glare.

"You wanna say something?"

"Yeah," she bit back with an equally antagonizing glare. Midoriya was in the background and feebly waving at her to stop, but if he wasn't going to stick up for himself, then she will. " _Excuse you_."

That ticked the hot-head off more and he went to grab her collar with a challenging grin. " _Ha?_ Just _who_ the f—"

"I am..." A pair of strong hands suddenly appeared out of nowhere and pulled them apart, and they found themselves stumbling into the classroom before the man behind it all leaned in with all his hero glory. "...Coming through the door like a normal person!"

 _Totally **not** normal..._ Shiro thought as her heart raced excitedly. _But it's the top hero... In the flesh!_ With the fight avoided and temporarily forgotten, loud murmurs of awe sounded within the classroom immediately at the presence of the Symbol of Peace.

"It's All Might!"

"Wow, he really _is_ a teacher!"

"That's his costume from the Silver Ages, isn't it? It gives me goosebumps!"

Shiro and the rest found their seats as the hero made his way to the front of the class. He grinned at them with his signature smile and fists settling at both sides of his hips. "Young heroes! I teach Hero Basic Training. It is a subject where you train in different ways to learn the basics of being a hero. You'll take the most units of this subject! I see some students are already getting to it, so this is what we'll do today—" he announced and flashed them a "BATTLE" card with excitement. "Combat training!"

At the mention of combat, Bakugou was possibly raging with anticipation.

"And to go with that are these!" All Might pointed to the wall that was extending out shelves with numbered boxes. "Costumes made based on your Quirk registrations and requests you sent in before school started."

Now everyone was shouting with eagerness. They couldn't wait to see and wear their own costume designs!

"After you change, gather in Ground Beta!"

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

"They say the clothes make the man, young men and ladies," All Might was waiting for them as they filed out of the exit one by one. There was clanking of metal and chains; armors shined, and different costumes stood out against each other.

Among the firsts was Bakugou's totally flashy grenade-esque getup, Iida's knight-like armor, Uraraka's astronaut-inspired black and pink suit...

"Be fully aware..."

Shiro adjusted the clear safety glasses before her eyes. Her hair was tied with a white ribbon on the right and a black one on the left. Her over-the-knee boots, the right one also white and the left one black, clicked as the compact weapons attached the side of her utility belt bobbed with each stride. On her body, she wore a pure white sweetheart leotard over a sheer bodysuit. The long sleeves matched the same white and black scheme and was accompanied by red combat gloves.

"From now on..."

All Might was grinning brightly at them as they all stepped out.

"...you are _heroes!_ "

Shiro looked around at her classmates all wearing their costumes proudly and ready for whatever the hero was going to throw at them. _But aren't we missing..._ Before she finished her thought, the sound of pounding feet came from the end of the tunnel and out came Midoriya with his totally...

 _All Might inspired getup? Does Midoriya admire him this much?_ she blinked at the obvious resemblance. As much as she looked up to Aizawa, she swore she will never _dress_ like him. The man basically dressed in rags!

"Now, it's time for combat training!"

Iida immediately raised his hand in the same stiff manner he usually possessed, but his armor seemed to enhance the stiffness.

"Sir! This is a battle center from the entrance exam, so will we be conducting urban battles again?"

"Nope, we're going to move ahead two steps! Most of the time, fighting villains takes place outside, but if you look at the total numbers, atrocious villains appear indoors at a higher rate. Imprisonment, house arrest, backroom deals—in this society filled with heroes, truly intelligent villains hide in the shadows!" All Might explained, "For this class, you'll be split into villains and heroes and fight 2-on-2 battles. The key this time is that there's no robot you can just beat up."

Immediately, there were an onslaught of questions on the logistics and nature of the battle. Can they beat people up like the robots anyway? How do you determine a win? Is this another test for potential and punished with expulsion? Isn't Aoyama's cape crazily dazzling—?

"How are we splitting up since there's 21 of us?" Shiro spoke up at last with a tilt of her head. Although her and Aizawa usually trained together in a similar hero-and-villain set up, she's never teamed up with anyone before so she didn't know how well her performance will go with another person in the mix. She was all too ready to go solo if she had to.

"I-I'll answer all of your questions! But great observation, Young Aiza—Aisaka!" the hero, overwhelmed with the other questions, gave her a thumbs up before going on explaining. He opened a small booklet and started reading from it.

 _He's reading from a script?_ she wondered with raised brows.

"The situation is that the villains have hidden a nuclear weapon somewhere in their hideout. The heroes are trying to dispose of it. The heroes need to catch the villains or get the nuclear weapon back in the allotted time. The villains need to protect the hidden nuclear weapon for the whole time or catch the heroes. Since we have an odd number of students, one of you will become the nuclear weapon for a group of villains. As a living weapon, you have the perk of changing hiding spots, but to make it fair for the hero opponents, you cannot run away or attack them once they spot you," he concluded before pulling out a yellow box. "Teams and opponents will be determined by drawing lots! Let's get to it!"

The students all stepped forward to grab one. When it was Bakugou's turn, he shoved his hand into the box and snatched up a lot with purpose. He stared at the tennis-sized ball containing the team letter "D" intently before directing his gaze at Shiro. "Don't you dare get on the same team as me, Pigtails. I wanna fight you."

"As if I _want_ to be on your team," she rolled her eyes as her hand reached into the box for a team. In her hand was the letter "I", and so there was a chance that she may go up against the blonde. If that happened, she resolved to give it her all and bring him down a notch. _Even if he's stronger than me._

As the rest finished picking lots, Shiro and her classmates all gathered together to see who they were partnered up with by matching their team letters:

 _Team A: Uraraka and Midoriya_

 _Team B: Shoji and Todoroki_

 _Team C: Mineta and Yaoyorozu_

 _Team D: Bakugou and Iida_

 _Team E: Ashido and Aoyama_

 _Team F: Sato and Koda_

 _Team G: Kaminari and Jiro_

 _Team H: Asui and Tokoyami_

 _Team I: Ojiro, Hagakure, and Aisaka_

 _Team J: Sero and Kirishima_

Shiro found that she was in the group of three, so that meant that her group was automatically put in with the villain box while the others were randomly placed. She stood next to Ojiro and who she presumed was Hagakure (she was invisible after all) and gave them an awkward smile since she didn't know them well. "So we're the live nuclear weapon team, huh?" she said before silently berating herself for stating the obvious. However, neither seemed to mind.

Hagakure made a fist pump with her visible gloved hand. "Yeah! We're gonna be some kick-ass villains together!" the girl shouted as Ojiro extended out his hand calmly towards her.

"I look forward to working with you, Aisaka-san."

"Likewise," Shiro responded quickly and took Ojiro's hand. It was rough, but inviting.

"So, the first teams to fight will be..." All Might's voice reached their ears as he reached into the hero and villain boxes before pulling out two teams. "Team A heroes and Team D villains! Everyone else, head toward the monitor room and we'll watch from there."

 _These two teams..._ Her ruby eyes lowered on Midoriya's face and his expression spoke a thousand words. Bakugou didn't get his wish to fight her today, but he probably got something even better, much to the curly haired male's hesitance.

* * *

As soon as All Might announced for the two teams to start, the Team A heroes successfully infiltrated the building without a hitch and started exploring the many extensive hallways that seemed endless from the monitor screens. But within minutes of infiltration, Bakugou had found the heroes and wasted no time in aiming his first punch.

"A surprise attack from the start?"

Though the monitors had no audio, remembering how strong his explosions could be allowed Shiro to practically feel the rumble of the crumbling wall the blonde hit as Midoriya and Uraraka managed to dodge him.

"Bakugou, that's cheating!" Kirishima slammed his fists together as they watched. "A surprise attack isn't manly at all!"

"It's a strategy, too," All Might said with his signature grin. "They're in the middle of a real battle right now."

Shiro carefully watched as Midoriya managed to block Bakugou's next move before flipping him to the ground. Something had changed in his expression during the five minute prep time, and although she could tell that he was still scared, it seemed that the curly haired male was pretty good at predicting Bakugou's moves and fighting through it.

 _Another useful strategy is to know your opponents..._ She nodded to herself, thinking intently. It was going to be hard for her to single out any one team that she may be up against, and even then, it might not be much use because she only knew the practical uses of some of their Quirks. This was a lot harder than going against Aizawa; although the Pro Hero always had tricks up his sleeves, she at least had a general idea of what she would be expecting. Some of her classmates where much of an anomaly still. _What to do what to do what to do..._

Ojiro must have sensed her inner unrest because he placed a hand on her shoulder briefly, and for some reason, he had a calming effect. "We can think of a strategy together," he said, motioning to the monitor where Bakugou was running wild on his own while disregarding Iida. "Whoever we are up against, the most important thing will be communication."

Shiro blinked in surprise at his words. "R-Right," she nodded in agreement. She had nearly forgotten that she wasn't in this alone. Her task was to think like a villain _and_ work together with her team. _Speaking of that..._

On one of the screens, Iida, after being left to his own devices by Bakugou, seemed to be moving everything from the area before confronting Uraraka as she showed up minutes later. Maybe it was because he was so bored up there by himself and ended up cleaning the entire place spotless... But then she remembered that Uraraka can change the gravity of anything she touched, so clearing out the room to prevent such a thing happening was actually a very strategic move on Iida's part.

Switching to the screen for the hallways, she watched Midoriya try to avoid his villain opponent as he stayed hot in pursuit. Even though it looked like Bakugou was going about haphazardly, he was still surprisingly fast at finding his target. _Is he still able to think clearly with all these angry emotions—?_

"Young Bakugou, stop!" All Might's warning caused the whole class to widen their eyes with alarm. The blonde looked to be aiming his right arm right at Midoriya as he started pulling out the pin from his now glowing grenade gauntlet. "Are you trying to kill him?!"

 _His mind isn't clear at all!_ Shiro was gripping her fists as her ruby eyes stayed glued to the screen at Bakugou's almost deranged grin. He was saying something back to All Might, but because of the lack of audio, she could only make out parts of his sentence from the movement of his lips.

 _"If I don't... won't die!"_

It was as if a miracle happened and the fiery blast shot past Midoriya and blew a crater-sized hole just inches from his body. From the impact, if anyone had been on the receiving end of it, it really would've killed them on the spot. However, Shiro didn't need her probability Quirk to know that the blow would've landed at a near 100% accuracy if Bakugou was truly aiming for the other male.

"This is supposed to be a class!" Kirishima, along with a few others, staggered as the explosion shook even the monitoring building. "Is that even allowed?!"

Just one floor above the fighting duo, Uraraka used this distraction to float towards the nuclear weapon but Iida caught on quickly and used his engine speed to move the weapon away. Without being able to touch anything, Uraraka's attacks were unproductive. However, she wasn't giving up. Whispering to her earpiece, she and Midoriya seemed to be conjuring up a final plan. This left Bakugou to storm angrily towards the male who was currently ignoring his presence.

 _Is this really okay?_ Shiro thought, looking at All Might as he continued to concentrate intently at the screen without saying another word. He's the only one who can hear what the teams are saying, so was there something more to this?

"Sensei, you should stop him!" Kirishima urged. "Bakugou's going crazy! He might kill him!"

The hero was deep in thought, as if mulling over whether the blonde was still sane or not. He then pressed his mic, "Young Bakugou! The next time you use that, I'll stop the fight and your team will lose. To attack on such a large scale inside is inviting the destruction of the stronghold you should be protecting. That is a foolish plan for both heroes and villains and I will deduct points for it!"

At the warning, Bakugou grew more agitated than he already was but he did as told and started to fight it out with his fist. He manuvered his body in a way that even though Midoriya blocked his first attack, his second one hit square on his back. _Not only does he have raw strength with his Quirk, he is also very able-minded and fast at changing strategies._

"He doesn't look like the type to think, but he's more subtle than I expected," Todoroki commented at the display, mirroring Shiro's own thoughts as he went on explaining Bakugou's technique at some of their classmates' confusion.

Shiro's attention briefly switched to the half white and half red haired male. She only knew that he was one of the four students who got in U.A. by recommendation and that his Quirk had something to do with ice, but otherwise he was a pretty reserved individual...

"Getting in a clean hit while fighting against inertia requires fine lateral adjustments to the power of the explosions," Momo added as the blonde in the screen shot another blast at the curly haired hero.

"He's too talented... _Too_ talented... Ugh," Kaminari sighed. "Midoriya's pretty amazing too, but in terms of combat power, Bakugou is definitely a ball of natural instincts."

"These aren't the actions of a hero," Tokoyami insisted.

 _Midoriya's not using his Quirk,_ Shiro furrowed her brows. It was for good reason though, if what happened yesterday with his swollen finger was any indication. _But if he wants to defeat Bakugou or even just restrain him, he needs to..._

"He's choosing to run away? That's not something a man should do," the Hardening Quirk user frowned next to her as well. "But I guess he has no choice. Something's weird about his action, though..." Truly, he was running towards the window for some reason as Bakugou neared. Then, the two of them dashed head-on at each other while activating their Quirks at the same time. "Sensei! If they hit each other with that—!"

"Both of you, st—" All Might started to shout, but he suddenly stopped short when Midoriya said something into his earpiece. The hero understood immediately and allowed the scene to unfold before him and the rest of the students.

Shiro could only stare as the curly haired male stood to shock everyone once again. Instead of hitting Bakugou, he swung his fist up and caused the ceiling connected to the floor the nuclear weapon was on to crumble. Uraraka, in turn, used the destruction from below to hit all of the debris at Iida. Even though both of Midoriya's arms were now injured, one from blocking Bakugou's explosion and the other from his own Quirk, he managed to have Uraraka retrieve the bomb.

There was no question that Bakugou was stronger, _by far_ , but that wasn't the goal of this exercise.

 _He did what he could to complete the mission, despite being up against a stronger opponent,_ Shiro realized.

" _Hero..._ " All Might sounded breathless as he gripped the mic. "Hero team... Wins!"

* * *

Bakugou was still slightly shaking as All Might brought him and the others back to the monitoring room. Midoriya, because of his serious injuries, was knocked out and got sent to the nurse's office to rest and heal. The win for the hero team didn't even seem like a win from the state that it left them; but mentally, it seemed that Bakugou was the most affected.

"Well, even if I say that the hero team won, the MVP for this battle was Young Iida!" the hero announced and grinned at his surprised students. "And why is that? Who can tell me?"

Momo raised her hand, "Yes, All Might-sensei. That is because Iida-san adapted the most to the context of the training. From watching the match..."

While her classmate started to list off all of the faults that each of them showed through the trial battle, Shiro focused her gaze at the other side of All Might, where the defeated blonde was brooding with his head low. _This must be his first time losing..._ It was not her business, but she still hoped that he could resolve his grudge or at least use this as a humbling experience.

After Momo finished, All Might looked at the girl incredulously as if he wasn't expecting her to explain so thoroughly. _He_ was the instructor, not the other way around! "W-Well, Young Iida also has parts of him that could be more relaxed, but that was correct!"

 _Yaoyorozu Momo, Quirk: Creation._

 _She's also a recommended student,_ Shiro remembered. The girl had an intelligence beyond normal human capabilities because her Quirk was to replicate anything she knew down to the molecular scale. No doubt she would also be a tricky opponent to face.

"All right everyone, let's change locations and start the second match. Tackle this training after thinking about what we just talked about," All Might announced as everyone settled down. He reached into the boxes and pulled out two new teams. "Match two: Team B are the heroes..."

Todoroki and Shoji stepped up as their team was called. Together, the duo looked like intimidating opponents.

"...and Team I are the villains!"

 _Team I..._ Shiro repeated as Ojiro and Hagakure started to move and her eyes shot up. _Wait, that's us!_

* * *

 **Okay, things will start picking up now and stop being so boring (if it's been so for you guys). For those of you who are curious, a character sheet with what Shiro's costume looks like is in the making! I wish I knew how to draw digitally though, because it'd be so much prettier haha. I'll probably post the finished drawing in the next update.**

 **Please leave a review :)**


	4. If You Think It's That Easy

**False alarm on that character sheet. I left the 80% finished work back home and my butt's back in college now haha. Will get to it when I have the chance! Super sorry x**

 **Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _if you think it's that easy_

.

.

.

"This building is bigger and more confusing in person..." Shiro commented as her team scouted out their base. It was similar to the first one in terms of the long and winding hallways, but this one featured many pipes going around the side of the walls. The heroes were outside, and like them, were getting familiar with the building layout. "Memorizing this in five minutes is hard, but I think it'll help if we have to locate each other when we need backup. We should decide who should be on defense and who should be on offense... Also the weapon..."

"Aisaka-chan's really intense," Hagakure said as she walked alongside Ojiro. The tailed male nodded his head.

"Like All Might-sensei said, this is a real battle. Our opponents are strong," he said. "Shoji-san possesses immense strength and his Quirk allows him to replicate and heighten any of his senses. Todoroki-san's ice Quirk must be very powerful, too, if he got recommended."

"Then, I'm going to get serious, too! Let me be the nuclear weapon," the transparent girl said and started to take off what was left visible of her costume. "I'll take off my gloves and boots!"

 _That's the correct decision as an invisible person, but that's not so great for a girl, morally speaking..._ They both thought as Hagakure set aside her boots. Since the 'nuclear weapon' is not allowed to attack, the only choice the girl has is to be strategic at hiding or have someone there to fend the heroes off. Shiro weighed her options before voicing her plan.

"Ojiro-san, you should stay with Hagakure-san on defense. I will be on offense because my Quirk can give me a better chance at finding our opponents," she said. "I'll intercept them to make it harder for them to reach you two."

Her plan was mirroring Bakugou's, but she was determined to not have it end the same way. She tapped the earpiece as a reminder for herself. "The most important thing will be communication, right? I'll remember to update you two frequently."

The male gave her a gentle smile and nodded along with Hagakure. "Alright."

 _"Now,"_ All Might's booming voice traveled through the speakers around the premises. _"Let's start the second indoor person-to-person combat training match!"_

 _BEEP!_

They now have 15 minutes on the clock to keep the heroes away. Giving her teammates one last look, Shiro took off.

* * *

Shoji and Todoroki infiltrated the base at the sound of the alarm. Expanding his wing-like arms, the Dupli-Arm Quirk user used it to gather information. Eyes and ears twitched around the tentacles before morphing into mouths that started talking to each other.

"Two are moving around on the north side of the sixth floor."

"The invisible one is barefoot. She's the weapon."

"The third one is coming towards us. Which one is it?"

"The other girl. She's wearing boots."

"An ambush, huh?"

"Go outside. It's dangerous," Todoroki said after he got all of the necessary information from his partner. "I'm sure our opponents intend to fight a defensive battle..." Placing a hand on the wall next to him, ice crystals immediately started to form and expand across the building. It will take less than a few minutes to cover the entire building and trap anyone inside of it. "But that does not matter to me."

"She's reaching the third floor now," Shoji signaled before backing off and walked outside.

* * *

Shiro's brows furrowed further as she ran down the third floor. Was it just her or did the building suddenly drop several degrees? She saw the first glimpse of what was happening when she breathed and fog came out, and then the tell-tale sign when crystallized ice started to freeze the walls and was expanding towards her at a fast pace.

"Guys, the entire place is freezing over! Don't let your feet get caught in the ice!" she yelled into her earpiece as she reached for the small _kusarigama_ (chain-sickle) on the side of her belt. Using the sickle end, she started to race the ice cover and slash open the pipes above both sides of her so that jets of water spurted out before it got frozen over. She didn't stop until she was satisfied with the extent of her masterpiece.

 _Now I just have to get to them before they reach Ojiro and Hagakure..._ she thought as she looked at the glistening ice-covered windows. If this wasn't a battle, she might've appreciated the beauty of it. _Wait, is that someone standing outside?_

Her ruby eyes took a second to focus past the thick film of crystal patterns, but her perception was right. "There's only one hero in the building—?" she whipped her head around at the sound of a pair of boots stepping down the hall and grew alert at the laser red glow coming from Todoroki's half-covered ice mask.

"I'm surprised you thought of wrecking the pipes before the ice got to it," he said from the other side of the maze of sharp icicles protruding haphazardly in every direction. "But this defense will not stop me."

"Oh, I wasn't planning to use this as a barrier between us," Shiro revealed with her eyes concentrated on the male. In a swift movement, she whipped the chain above their heads the same time the dial in her left eye swirled and she charged as the icicles fell around them like meteors. "I'm using my resources to attack you!"

Todoroki had to jump back to avoid the first few that came crashing down at him, but more started to fall as Shiro's weapon made contact with the extensive row of icicles. He realized that the girl was using her probability Quirk to avoid and receive the least amount of damage to herself as she shortened the distance between them under the ice shower, and Todoroki quickly used his Quirk to form a shield above him as he focused on deflecting her incoming blows of fists and ice.

He had to admit that she was really smart to use his ice against him, as he had underestimated her when he judged that her Quirk wouldn't do much against him. She was proficient at incorporating her probability manipulation with trained combat skills. The strength wasn't there yet, but her fast thinking and technique was something to respect. That also meant that he had to abandon his first plan, as she had thwarted it.

 _I'll have to capture her,_ he dodged the kick that was aimed at his face and allowed it to land on the shield, thus cracking it and it crumbled around them with the added pressure of the falling icicles. She halted her attacks for a second to avoid the debris and he took this small gap of opportunity to throw the binding tape around her, but he was surprised to find that she was fast enough to get out of it by wrapping her _kusarigama_ on a pipe and swung above him. _Impressive..._ he thought monetarily before he sent another blast through the wall to freeze her weapon in place.

Shiro immediately released herself and dropped down to the ground. She let out a foggy breath. Her opponent was fast, but not as fast as Aizawa with his restraining bandages. All the years of training with the capture Pro Hero really paid off here, but in terms of strength, she was no match for the bicolor haired male. She eyed him wearily as he stepped towards her.

The Bluetooth suddenly glowed in his ear, indicating that his partner was talking to him. He seemed to nod at something Shoji said. "Yes, and stay back."

However, his terse reply struck a nerve with Shiro and her ruby eyes twitched. Was he telling his partner to stay back because he was enough to take down both her and Ojiro? But she didn't have time to question it as he suddenly attacked with his icy right hand reaching at her.

She quickly ripped the ribbons from her hair. The ribbons were far from just hair accessories; it was made of carbon-fiber material and it specialized in capturing her opponents. She'd learn this little trick from watching and experiencing Aizawa's technique numerous times, after all.

"You're mistaken if you think it's that easy to defeat us without backup, Todoroki-san," her eyes narrowed as she pulled on the ribbons to tighten its hold on his ice-welding hand.

"I told Shoji to stay back to minimize harm on our side," Todoroki said calmly as ice crystals quietly traveled up the bindings that was restraining his hand. His calmness seemed to work on distracting her and before she was able to react again, his ice had shot up and encased her entire right arm in ice.

Though stunned from the icy pain, she pulled at the ribbon to release him before twisting around to land a roundhouse kick at his stomach. At the same time, the ice below his feet shot towards her and quickly worked to encase her other foot in ice. While she did managed to graze him, her own limbs were now immobile and burning from the icy sensation. _I c-can't move...!_

"Sorry," he apologized after capturing her with the tape now that she was slowed down. He walked up to her, the broken pieces of ice crunching under his boots and touched her right arm with his left hand and she watched with awe as the ice melted into a puddle of warm water. He did the same for her leg before standing back up.

 _Todoroki Shoto, Quirk: Half-Cold, Half-Hot._

"You're a commendable opponent, but the difference in our abilities is still too apparent," he said before leaving her.

She couldn't even get mad at him for his words because it was true. _He's so strong... No wonder he got in through recommendations,_ she thought as Ojiro and Hagakure's voices came through her earpiece.

 _"Aisaka-san? What happened down there?"_

 _"We heard a lot of shattering! Are you okay Aisaka-chan?"_

Shiro regained her senses at her teammates' voices. "Sorry, Todoroki-san captured me and he's on his way up..." the dial in her left eye was turning again. She stared at her captor just long enough before he was out of sight to calculate some stats. If Todoroki finds them, they had a 100% chance of losing, but she couldn't give him that satisfaction.

"Ojiro-san, Hagakure-san, head towards staircase E and go down. He's least likely to use that route, and then..."

If they can't win in combat, they'll just drag it out until time runs out.

* * *

Meanwhile, the class and All Might had watched the two team's interactions carefully. It was incomparable to the magnitude and intensity of Bakugou's and Midoriya's battle, but Shiro's and Todoroki's was captivating with its own beauty and technique.

 _She's grown up all right, Aizawa-kun..._ the hero thought with a giant grin.

* * *

In the end, the hero team still won. Todoroki found the rest of her team and the fight between him and Ojiro was relatively quick before he freezed them in the same manner. Despite Shiro's attempt to help after she was captured, she had discounted Shoji's role as the hero team's tracker because she was under the impression that Todoroki was working solo. _Her_ plan failed beacause the Dupli-Arm user heard their every movement and reported it back to Todoroki, who had suggested he do so as a backup plan to the original one.

 _He's not easy,_ she glanced at the bicolor haired male as they listened to All Might's review of their performance. _I was too careless._

"The hero team caused minimal damage to the building while successfully capturing the villains and retrieved the weapon unharmed, but the villain team also did a great job at planning out their attack with using the building's waterpipe feature to their advantage!" the hero congratulated both teams with an encouraging thumbs up.

Shiro, although still upset for losing, stared at Todoroki with a determined look. "You said there's a difference between our abilities... That'll change the next time we're up against each other," she vowed. The male's cold stare morphed into a slight smirk.

"Sure."

"What's up with that Quirk, though?" Kaminari chimed in and expressed his amazement at Todoroki. "You're too cool, man! Literally!"

"Shiro-chan, you guys were really awesome too!" Uraraka encouraged.

Everyone raved about the battle under the shower of icicles, how manly it was for Ojiro to carry around Hagakure so her feet wouldn't get frozen by Todoroki's ice, much to the male's embarrassment, and someone even commented on how sexy and ninja-like Shoji's information gathering was. But all throughout the ordeal and the rest of the trial battles, Bakugou stayed silent.

* * *

"Good work everyone!" All Might announce at the end of the class period. "We didn't have any major injuries other than Young Midoriya, either! You all did a good job for your first training!"

"To have such a proper class after Aizawa-sensei's class..." Tsuyu looked thoughtful as she mirrored most of her classmates' thoughts. "It's kind of anticlimactic..."

 _As suspected, Eraserhead has a bad rep among the students..._ Shiro sweat-dropped.

"We're free to have proper classes, as well!" All Might threw his hands up in a welcoming manner as he grinned. "Well then, I must review the results with Young Midoriya! Change and return..." the rest of his sentence trailed into a muffle as he had dashed halfway across the training ground to the staff exit, _"...to the classroom!"_

"All Might's so cool!" Mineta raved while Ojiro looked confused.

"Why is he in such a hurry?"

Shrugging, the students all filed out of the training grounds as well. On her way out, Shiro paused briefly as the electric Quirk user called out to her. "Hey Aisaka, wanna grab a bite to eat later?" he asked brazenly with his arms behind his head. "What do you like?"

"Ice cream..." Shiro answered before a small frown made its way to her face when she thought back to her encounter with ice today, making it sound like a terrible idea. She was just about to apologize to Kaminari when Bakugou her cut off as he walked past her, bumping into her shoulder in the process. "Hey, watch where you're going!"

When her attention shifted to the offending male, Kaminari, seeing that there's been two fights that almost happened each time they were near each other since the start of school _a day ago_ , he smartly left them alone. However, even as Shiro was glaring daggers at the blonde, he kept on walking as if he didn't hear her.

 _What's up with him? I_ _admit losing hurts, but..._ she watched him disappear within the darkness of the exit tunnel. She could empathize to an extent because she hated losing as well, but the difference between Bakugou and her was that he's _never_ lost before.

His pride was something unmatched by most people, and there's nothing more fragile than a heart that's swelled to bursting.

* * *

During the break period before their last class, Shiro had volunteered with Ojiro to bring some workbooks back to the classroom. After the hero training, it felt so weird to go right back to normal classes. And normal classes assigned homework.

"I can take more from your stack, if you want," Ojiro said and scratched his cheek meekly when she stared at him with her ruby eyes. "N-Not that I'm saying you're weak or anything... You must be tired from the battle."

"It's okay," she offered the male a small smile before continuing to walk down the hall. She had found Ojiro to be a very gentle and calm individual, and it was easy to be on good terms with him. "By the way, sorry I didn't say this to you or Hagakure-san back there, but good job. I know we lost because I couldn't stop Todoroki-san—"

"No, you did a great job, Aisaka-san," Ojiro insisted, cutting her off. "You made the inevitable just a little possible. If you didn't warn us back there and helped us navigate through the building, Todoroki-san would've ended the match within minutes. You got us farther than we would've because you didn't give up, and that's really admirable."

At all of his encouraging words, Shiro didn't know what to say or how to properly reply to it, so she only hid her face behind the stack of notebooks and nodded her head. She had no idea he thought that highly of her! "Thanks, Ojiro-san..." she mumbled, hoping she didn't make the male feel like she was suggesting that he didn't help. "I've never been on a team before, but you and Hagakure-san were understanding and easy to work with. I really enjoyed being on your team," she added earnestly.

Ojiro only blushed silently as he slid open the classroom door. They walked in on the some of their classmates staring out the window out to the courtyard. "What's going on...?" Shiro asked curiously as she set down the stack on a desk. Making a beeline towards where Uraraka, Tsuyu, and Mina was standing watch, her eyes trailed to the two figures below. "Midoriya-san's out of the nurse's office?" _And isn't that Bakugou?_

"Ah, Shiro-chan! You're here to watch the battle between men, too?" Uraraka said with ambiguity.

She could faintly hear the two if she strained her ears, since they were practically shouting at each other. Well, Bakugou was, anyway.

 _"What are you trying to say? Today I lost to you... That's all there was... All there was...! But as I watched the ice guy, I thought, 'I can't beat him'! Even Pigtails put up a shitty good fight against him, all without destroying the building! Can you believe it? I even ended up agreeing with what that ponytail girl said! Damn it! Damn it!"_

"Did he just..." _Compliment me in the form of an offhanded insult?_ Shiro blinked.

 _"You too, Deku!"_ Bakugou finally raised his head and she thought she caught a glint of something fall from his angry, scowling face. But it must've been the trick of the afternoon light... _"I'm just getting started! You hear?! I will become number one!"_

It was when Bakugou turned to walk away did they witness All Might speeding towards the blonde, nearly knocking Midoriya off his shoes. The hero's giant form blocked their view, so they weren't able to see that Bakugou was wiping away the angry tears that had gathered in his eyes. However, knowing the hero, Shiro knew that he was probably on his way to console the blonde in some way. Maybe this will be a new chapter for him.

"What was that?" Mina wondered as she plastered her forehead on the glass. All Might had let go of Bakugou and allowed him to walk out of school grounds. Next to her, Uraraka pumped her fists excitedly.

"The fated battle between men!"

Tsuyu titled her head, "It looked like Midoriya-chan was just giving excuses one-sidedly, though."

 _"The fated battle between men!"_

* * *

"See you tomorrow!"

"Yeah, see ya!"

The students were all bidding each other goodbyes and parted ways after stepping out of U.A.'s massive security gate. Shiro was adjusting the strap on her backpack when someone bumped into her. A blonde male turned his head back slightly, his gray eyes glancing at her briefly before letting out a small "oops" and was on his merry way again.

 _What's with blondes and bumping into me today..._ her eyes twitched.

"Yo, Shir—err, Aisaka! You heading this way, too?" Kirishima was waving at her as he took a few quick strides to catch up. Behind him were two more of her classmates. One of them was bulky in stature with big lips and the other one she remembered had a Quirk that allowed him to shoot tape from his elbows. "Good work today! You and Midoriya were both fired up against Bakugou and Todoroki. I can't believe we have so many strong people in our class! By the way, I'm Kirishima Eijiro!"

"Well, she did tie with Bakugou in the entrance exam. I was really surprised with Midoriya, though! He fought evenly with Bakugou," the tape Quirk male nodded, his triangular grin prominent on his face. "Oh, and I'm Sero Hanta!"

"I'm Sato!" her burly classmate introduced. "Seeing how the first two matches were so intense, the rest of us had to give it our all, too."

Shiro had never had so many people compliment her all at once and so many times in a single day, especially since she didn't win the combat training at the end. But like Ojiro said, she supposed she did make the impossible possible against Todoroki's overwhelming power... Well, that _is_ her Quirk. "T-Thank you!" she said, and she truly was filled with pride. "And it's fine if you want to call me Shiro," she added, noticing that the redhead was about to since he must've heard Uraraka say it often.

"Shiro-chan, then! We were going over the training together," Kirishima revealed with a grin. "How'd you escape Todoroki's capture the first time? He was so fast and we thought for sure he got you there!"

"Ah," Shiro thought back to the training and gripped the straps of her backpack. "I've had lots of practice with—" she paused and wondered if she was supposed to tell people this. It wasn't really something _top secret_ , but maybe her classmates would think it was weird? At their wide and anticipating stares, she offered them a smile. "With a really amazing mentor."

"Cool!" they said and didn't press further, switching to other aspects of the training. She walked along with them, content to be just listening to their animate conversation. When they passed by a dark alley, there was a small chill that ran down the back of her neck and she paused to take a quick, confused glance.

"What's up?" Sero noticed her moment of attention and looked at the alley as well. "Isn't that the alley where the Sludge Villain took a kid and terrorized the city?"

"Oh yeah," Kirishima also craned his neck over. "The villain All Might took down with his Detroit Smash! You must've heard about it. It was pretty big news."

Shiro nodded slowly, remembering that Aizawa had told her about it and it was even printed on the newspaper at that time. She also remembered reading that the villain had almost killed two innocent kids her age when he tried to steal their bodies after attempting to escape the hero.

"Villains really are despicable..." she frowned.

"Well, that's why we're in U.A. It'll be our jobs to take them down. All Might-sensei said we're heroes now!" Kirishima said with a wolfish grin, and to that, they mirrored his expression with agreement.

 _Yeah, we're heroes now!_

* * *

The week's newest print of the newspaper was thrown on the table with a certain news segment on the front page. The title read: _"All Might Becomes U.A. Teacher! Closes Agency Temporarily"_. The man who threw it set down his glass of half-filled liquor on top of the hero's picture and allowed the condensate on the glass to stain the thin material.

"Did you see this? It says he's a teacher... At that school..."

He was mumbling the last part mainly to himself with annoyance, as the topic always made him angry. The bartender at the counter was used to the ramblings from the man with many disembodied hands gripping his body and face, and he continued to clean glasswear until he was addressed.

"Hey... What do you think'll happen... If the Symbol of Peace...

"...is killed by villains?"

* * *

 **Todoroki is too OP to not win the match, so it wouldn't make sense if Shiro won. She's good, but she still levels below our ice prince. On another note - I love Kirishima! He's like the perfect combo of Natsu and Elfman (both Fairy Tail) if their personalities were mixed together.**

 **As usual, please leave a review :)**


	5. It's Because I Admire You

**I enjoyed writing this chapter a lot.**

 **Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _it's because i admire you_

.

.

.

Shiro made sure that she woke up to her alarm so that she didn't have a repeat of what happened the previous day. Putting on her U.A. uniform and tying her messy silver blue hair into her signature pigtails, she made her way downstairs. Aizawa was sitting at the table with his cup of black coffee, and on the table was a bowl of seasoned rice and an egg for her. Throughout the years, the man always made her breakfast, but he was a simple man with a simple grasp of what is food. Thus, food at the house was never extravagant, but that was perfectly fine with her.

Pulling out a chair to sit, she was half surprised to see a black cat staring up at her with its green eyes glowing.

She raised her brow at the Pro Hero across from her, "Why is there a cat here?"

"It walked in when I went to get the newspaper."

"But you don't even like to read the newspaper."

"I don't," he agreed. Said paper was on the wooden table with the news segment about All Might teaching at U.A. facing up, and she understood why he even bothered to look at it in the first place. It was no wonder the man didn't like the media; they always want to stick their nose into _everything_.

The black cat suddenly jumped onto the table but with no interest for the food and sauntered over to the hero. He granted the cat enough attention to scratch its chin for a few moments and it purred contently. Shiro couldn't help but grin at the scene.

Aizawa was a simple man with a simple taste. He also had a strange affinity for cats.

"If you don't hurry, you'll be late and I'll expel you," Aizawa claimed before standing up. The feline also jumped off the table and walked along his feet to the kitchen. Shiro stuck her tongue out behind his back.

"Yeah, yeah, _sensei_ ," she replied and started to eat her breakfast. She glanced at the man with a mouth full of rice when he walked by again to put on his shoes and opened the front door for the cat to leave. He usually left early because he was a teacher, but this was _extra_ early. "Are you heading to U.A. already?"

"Yeah, I need to get ahead of those news-hounds. They annoy me."

Shiro tilted her head in question as the door closed behind the man, but then she simply went back to enjoying her breakfast. It wasn't until she got near school grounds that she fully understood the hero's motivation for leaving early...

* * *

 _"How are All Might's classes?"_

 _"Can you tell us a little about how he is in class?!"_

Surrounding the outside of the school was a whole herd of civilians, reporters, and people with expensive cameras all wanting to get a sighting of the Symbol of Peace or interview the students trying to get to class. By now the news of the hero teaching at U.A. had spread across the nation, and everyone wanted to see for themselves.

A microphone was suddenly thrust under Shiro's nose and a female reporter looked at her critically. "What do you think of All Might as a teacher?"

She blinked as three different cameras pointed her way and the reported urged her to answer. Looking around and seeing that she was completely surrounded, she sighed and attempted to answer as fast as she could so she could leave. "He's great, but can I please get to class so I won't get expelled?"

"Is that one of All Might's expectations? Can you expand on that?"

 _Not by All Might, but Eraserhead and that's worse,_ she thought as her brows furrowed in annoyance at their insistence.

"Look, I don't want to be late for class—"

"Then just answer this question! Do you think All—"

"Move out of my way!" Bakugou demanded with a huge scowl on his face as he pushed his way through the crowd where Shiro was. It was a miracle that he hasn't swore or punched someone in the face yet, but it was proving to be a great challenge for his short fuse. To make things worse, a few reporters who saw him seemed even more persistent once they recognized his face.

"Hey, aren't you the one who was caught by the..." one reporter never got to finish his sentence as Bakugou threw him the deadliest glare he possessed. As if the reporter was challenged in the head, however, he immediately turned to Shiro. "Are you perhaps friends with the Sludge Villain victim?"

"...Huh?"

" _Stop it,_ " Bakugou sneered at the man and grabbed Shiro's hand, much to her surprise, and started to drag her away from the crowd. Once they crossed to the other side of U.A.'s security gate, they were finally rid of the persistent reporters because the sensors won't let them pass without a U.A. official ID.

 _This is the one thing I'm not looking forward to when I become a hero,_ Shiro frowned after giving the reporters one last glance. Popular heroes always have the press coming at them, but All Might was the epitome of heroes, so she could only imagine how he worked with all that. She had to agree with Aizawa's rationality on this one.

 _The media is a pain,_ she thought before feeling a small spark in her palm. "Ow!"

Upon realizing that his Quirk slipped out from his anger and the fact that he was _still_ holding her hand, Bakugou snatched his hand away like he had touched the plague. But as embarrassed as he was, he was still ready to tell her off if she mentions the sludge incident—

"I'm not those annoying reporters, so I won't question it."

Her reassurance caught him off guard, but he could see it in her eyes that she meant it. Lips curling into a scowl, he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "You better fucking not, Pigtails."

He heard her scoff before she stormed past him. Trailing behind, his right hand slipped out of his pocket again and he stared at it for a while. He was used to feeling heat on his palms from igniting his Quirk, but the sensation of her hand in his was different.

It was warm.

But a _shitty_ kind of warm.

* * *

"Good work on yesterday's combat training. I saw the video and results," Aizawa pointed out after homeroom started. His droopy eyes landed on certain students as he called them out. "Bakugou, you're talented, so don't act like a kid all the time."

The blonde looked offended but muttered out an "I know."

"Midoriya."

The male in question stiffened and stared at the top of his desk nervously.

"You settled it by breaking your arm again, huh? You can't keep saying you can't help it because you can't control your Quirk. I don't like saying the same thing over and over. Fix your control issue and there'll be a lot that you can achieve," the hero critiqued, but his last comment gave the male a burst of hope. "Feel a sense of urgency, Midoriya."

"Y-Yes, sir!"

"And lastly... Shiro."

Some students grew confused as to who the hero was referring to and looked around before their gaze landed on the girl sitting in the row between Midoriya and Kirishima. Shiro looked taken off guard at the hero's blatant use of her nickname, but she prepared herself for his critique.

"I'm sure you came to the same conclusion during the training, but be aware of everyone in your battle vicinity. Don't just focus on one person."

"I will," she promised.

"Now let's get down to homeroom business," Aizawa said, ending his critiques by setting the stack of papers in his hand on the podium purposefully. "It's a late notice, but today I'll have you..."

The class immediately tensed up once again. The last time he said that he was announcing something on a late notice, he made them take a special test and threatened to expel those he found with no potential. _What is it going to be this time?!_

"...decide on a class representative."

 _It's actually a normal school activity!_ they thought happily before a cacophony of exclamations to be picked as class president ensued. In the hero course, this was a role that allowed one to practice being a top hero by leading group, so of course many of them wanted the role. However, there could only be one plus a deputy rep.

"Silence, please!" Iida suddenly shouted and made the class quiet down for a second. "This is a job with the serious responsibility of leading others. It is not a job for just _anyone_ who wants to do it; it requires the trust of those around you! I say we use democracy to decide on a true leader and hold an election to choose one."

 _He says that, yet his hand is raised the highest,_ Shiro thought. She didn't care for the role of class representative that much, so all of this didn't matter to her. But she did like Iida's idea.

"But Iida-chan, we haven't known each other for that long, so how can we have trust or anything?" Tsuyu asked. Kirishima nodded along with the girl's comment.

"Plus everyone would just vote for themselves!"

Iida's hand descended and pointed at them in the usual stiff manner, "That's why whoever receives multiple votes here would truly be considered as the most suitable person! What do you think, Aizawa-sensei?" he turned to the hero, who had zipped himself up in his yellow sleeping bag.

"I don't care, as long as you decide before homeroom is over," he merely said before flopping down to the ground.

"Thank you very much!"

And so, everyone was prompted to take out a piece of paper and write down the name of the person they thought should be their leader. Shiro stared at the blank paper for a while before scribbling down a name and dropping the ballot into a box with the others. _Good luck, Iida. You have my vote,_ she nodded.

Immediately, the results were tallied and recorded on the blackboard. She was surprised to see only one tally by Iida's name, which meant that he didn't vote for himself. _Wow, he's earnest..._ Looking at the others, most people expectedly got one vote, but as she scanned over her own name, her chin slipped off her palm.

 _Two votes?! But I didn't even vote for myself!_

She was tied with Yaoyorozu Momo for vice president while Midoriya received three votes, which meant that he was the most popular candidate as leader.

"Why Deku?!" Bakugou shot out of his seat with shock. "Who voted for him?!"

Meanwhile, Iida looked crushed that he didn't get nearly as many votes, but at the same time, he was visibly thankful for the one vote that he did get. To those around him, they expected as much.

"Then, the class rep is Midoriya," Aizawa drawled when he saw the results. "And the deputy class rep will be... Oh," he said after he noticed that there was a tie. He looked at both Shiro and Momo. "That can be decided with a game of rock-paper-scissors. Let's get this over with."

Shiro totally didn't think this was necessary since she didn't want the role in the first place. But in order to not outright offend the two people who so thoughtfully voted for her, she felt that she had to at least make an effort. On her way up to the front of the class, Ojiro gave her a thumbs up while whispering good luck.

 _Could Ojiro be one of my voters?_ she wondered. If so, then who was the other voter? But there was no use thinking about it now, because she was face-to-face with Momo. The girl gave her a determined smile before getting ready. _Okay, I have a one-out-of-three chance..._ she paused and got an idea. Keeping her head low, she focused on her hand.

"Rock... Paper... Scissors!"

With one hand showing rock and the other showing scissors, the winner was determined.

"So, Yaoyorozu will be the deputy class rep," Aizawa announced while Shiro walked back to her seat.

 _Sorry voters... But this just isn't my thing._

* * *

"The rice is so delicious!" Uraraka sighed contently at the lunch table as she dug into her food. Today's meal selections looked amazing as usual, as expected of the Lunch Rush hero.

Shiro had opted for a chicken curry dish and was eating it with gusto while occasionally sipping water because of the spiciness. She was sitting between Midoriya and Tsuyu, with Iida and Uraraka on the opposite side of the table and a few other of her classmates sitting down the long lunch table.

"..." Unlike the others, Midoriya wasn't enjoying his meal like the rest as he glanced down with hesitance. "I still don't know if I'm qualified for class rep."

"You are," Uraraka stated simply and Iida nodded.

"Your courage and judgment at critical moments make you worth following. That is why I voted for you."

 _He's too modest,_ Shiro tuned in to their conversation. "Even though I voted for Iida-san, I agree with him on that. You'll be fine, Midoriya-san."

"A-Aisaka-kun, _you_ voted for me?!" the Engine Quirk user gasped in surprise. His eyes were filled with indebtedness as one arm crossed his chest and the other pointed at her. "I am so grateful for you, Aisaka-kun!" he declared loudly.

"Eh," she smiled briefly at his enthusiasm. It really was a pity that he didn't get elected; although he was stiff and demanding at times, he had a great sense of duty. "It's okay to call me Shiro, you know."

"Shiro-chan, I've been meaning to ask since I like to speak my mind," Tsuyu chipped in while adapting to her nickname comfortably. "Are you Aizawa-sensei's secret love child?"

Had Shiro been drinking water, it would've sprayed all over poor Iida's face. "A-Asui-san?!"

"Call me Tsuyu, okay?" the girl said before going on about her theory. "Aizawa-sensei calls you familiarly and the way you used your hair ribbons at combat training reminded me of his bindings. If it's supposed to be a secret, the similarity of your family names are kind of a dead giveaway."

At this point, half of the table consisting of her classmates was listening in on the ground-breaking conversation. They wanted to know, too. Kirishima's spiky head of red hair poked out into view as a realization hit him.

"No way, could Aizawa-sensei be the mentor you told us about?!"

 _Well... The cat's out of the bag now,_ Shiro thought. "We're not related, but Eraserhead's my guardian," she confirmed, a sense of pride surfacing into her tone at all of the surprised stares that the table was giving her.

"That's amazing!" Midoriya cried out with his expression in awe. "There's never been any information about that... Well, there's never been much information on him in general... But wow...!" he was starting to ramble on and Shiro caught something about writing it in his hero books. "It must be so cool to live with a hero like Eraserhead!"

"And scary!" Uraraka added with wide eyes as she thought about how the hero was like outside of school. "But what about your parents...?" Uraraka's expression turned into panic as she realized the implication of her own question. "A-Ah, sorry!"

"It's okay," Shiro consoled the apologizing girl. She wasn't bothered about not having a biological family since she doesn't remember thing about them anyway. "I'm not sure what happened to my family, but Eraserhead's like one to me. As for his scary side..." she looked thoughtful for a minute with her lips pursed. She should probably tell them that there was not much of a difference saved for the hero's obvious soft spot for felines, but she decided to keep that to herself. "It's not too bad when we're not training. He has high expectations, but that's why I want to overcome them and become a great hero."

 _So that's Shiro-san's reason why she wants to be a Pro Hero,_ Midoriya thought, nodding silently.

"I can't imagine Aizawa-sensei being the fatherly type though," Tsuyu remarked bluntly, her tongue sticking out slightly in thought.

To that, a few nodded along as well while Shiro laughed out loud. They stared; it was the first time she expressed her happiness so vocally to her classmates, and that caught them off-guard. However, they all agreed it was a pleasant sound and was mildly disturbed when the blaring of an alarm interrupted the moment.

 _"There has been a Level 3 security breach. All students please evacuate outdoors promptly. I repeat..."_

Immediately, the lunch room was in a frenzy of panic as all of the students jumped from their seats to rush towards the exit. A third-year explained to the confused Iida that "Level 3" meant someone was trespassing on school grounds, and that was enough for the rest of them to add into the chaos.

Shiro found herself separated from her friends and classmates in the large crowd, with the mass of panicking students suffocating her as they tried to squeeze past each other. "Excuse me—ow!" she was roughly pushed to the side, causing her to slam into someone in the process.

"Oi, shove someone at me again and I'll kill you!"

The all too familiar growl made Shiro snap her head up, but that knocked her head against Bakugou's chin.

"What the... Pigtails?! I _swear_ to—" he didn't get to finish his sentence as the crowd behind them forcefully pushed them forward. Bakugou braced his body against the forceful crowd but only found himself being carried along until a rather rough jolt pushed him towards the wall. "Fuck!"

"Hey, do you _mind_ —!"

"What?!" he barked, too irritated to care about what the girl wanted to say until he saw just why she was calling out to him. Shiro was plastered against the wall with him caging her in. And they were _extremely_ close to each other. "Oh, shit... D-Don't move!" he ordered as he tried to lift himself away. But the crowd wasn't having it and pushed back.

"I _can't_ move even if I wanted to," she muttered into his shirt. At least he was actually blocking the jabbing elbows for her... And he smelled like a mix of smokey vetiver and cedarwood...

"When I find out who did this," he growled threateningly, breaking her out of her trance as he tried again to push back against the crowd. "I'll blow 'em up!"

But, both of their cheeks were burning red and it was not because of how hot the room had become from the tight squeeze. It was probably a good thing that they couldn't see each other's faces right now.

"Stop pushing! Slow down!" A voice shouted among the crowd and Shiro immediately recognized it as Kirishima. Like a saint, the male somehow managed to get the crowd to disperse just slightly so that there was a gap, but it wasn't going to last long. Bakugou and Shiro immediately escaped. "Oh hey, guys!" Kirishima looked surprised to see them, but he was wholly unaware of the situation just seconds ago.

 _Gosh, this is crazy... I need to get us to a less crowded area!_ Shiro thought as they were still being pushed around. The dial in her left eye turned. "This way!" she motioned for the two males to follow. They complied, understanding that having her Quirk find favorable gaps in the sea of people was probably their best bet at not being stomped like ragdolls. However, it only worked for a few moments. Everyone was just _so_ tightly packed.

A particularly large male in front of them was trying to get past and his strong elbow swung back towards Shiro's head; with her back faced to the danger, she didn't even notice what was happening until she heard a loud impact.

"Wh—?" she widened her eyes.

"I got ya, Shiro-chan!" Her red haired classmate was grinning at her with his hardened arm shielding her face, and the male in front of them was too panicked to even register pain as he kept going. "Everyone, stop! Slow down! Someone'll get hurt like this—!"

Kirishima's shouts fell on deaf ears as the mass made no motion to slow down. Suddenly, they saw Iida float and burst forward above their heads towards the emergency exit. The male plastered himself onto the wall and held on for dear life, and everyone paused as his voice projected loudly throughout the whole lunch room.

"EVERYONE, EVERYTHING'S FINE! It is just the media! There is nothing to panic about. Everything's fine! This is U.A., so let us act in a way befitting the best of the best!"

People immediately calmed down at the male's reassurance and Shiro was able to look out the window and see that police have come to take care of the intruding reporters. "Iida-san saved the day..." she sighed in relief.

"That damn elite is useful for something at least," Bakugou muttered. Another minute of pushing and shoving and he would've just resolved to blasting his way out.

Shiro rolled her eyes at the blonde's rudeness and turned to Kirishima with an appreciative smile. "Hey, thanks for helping me back there, Kirishima-san. That was very hero-like."

The male blushed at her compliment and rubbed the back of his head with a toothy grin. "A-Anytime..."

Bakugou just glared at them before stalking away angrily.

* * *

"B-Before we decide on the other class officers, can I say something first...?" Midoriya was a nervous wreck as he stood up in the front of the class with Momo after lunch. He gulped before lifting his head to meet the stares of his classmates. "I think... Iida Tenya-kun should be class rep after all!"

Iida looked surprised to be called out, but everyone listened on to what the curly haired male wanted to say.

"He was able to get everyone's attention in such a cool way. I think it would be best for Iida-kun to do it."

At the suggestion, the class was silent for a moment before individuals started to agree. Iida really was a big help during the securty breach and managed to get everyone to stop panicking after he quicly realized the situation. His fearlessness and quick resolve was a sign of being a great leader, so no one objected to the switch.

"You're wasting time," Aizawa droned from behind Midoriya and scaring him in the process. His expression was dark and unimpressed, but he made no move to admonish the boy's decision. "I don't care what you do, just hurry up and do it."

 _Aisaka really lives with him...?_ Some of them thought with a shudder as Iida stood up to accept his role dutifully.

* * *

"You told the class about your living situation?" Aizawa repeated as Shiro and he walked back home late in the afternoon. The girl was telling him about what happened during lunch leading up to the security breach and revealed that some of the students in class 1-A asked about their relationship.

"It was kind of hard not to explain after Tsuyu-san thought I was your love child," she visibly made a face at that notion again before sighing. "Sorry if you didn't want them to know..."

The hero's eyes softened before looking ahead of him. "There's no reason why they shouldn't know," he replied. "It's just a pain now that they give you a look of pity when they see me. Do they think I torture you or something? Geez."

"Really?" she blinked in surprise before laughing. "You _are_ pretty demanding."

"It keeps people on their toes."

"Speaking of that..." Shiro turned to the hero. "How did the press get through U.A.'s security gate? They really caused a massive panic to the school."

The expression on Aizawa's face morphed into a critical frown. He was unsure of it himself, since when the teachers went to check out the damage after the reporters were escorted out by police they found the main gate had been completely disintegrated into a pile of rubble. None of the reporters claimed to know anything about that, just that they saw an opening to the school and went ahead inside to find All Might. It was beyond concerning, but after thoroughly checking the premises for threats, they still didn't find an instigator.

"It's under investigation," he stated plainly. "The media just doesn't stop at any opportunity for a story. Like I said, they annoy me."

Shiro couldn't agree more. At least it was a false alarm this time. She knew that U.A. had Aizawa and many other strong heroes, so it was unlikely anything evil would dare to infiltrate the school and get away with it.

"Hey, Eraserhead... Can we go to WacDonalds together?"

"No. You can go by yourself."

"But it's just down the block," she insisted. "Please? I'm _starving_."

"Fine," the hero gave up right away as the girl dragged him along with a victorious grin. Both of them were unaware of the serious troubles that U.A. will soon be facing...

* * *

 **I really, really love reading feedback and get so excited and motivated when I see them for this story - so thank you and please keep them coming! Now, as an aside...**

 **Does anyone know how old All Might actually is? It was never revealed in the manga I believe, but I know many people portray him as around the same age as Eraserhead and co. (30 y/o). If you really think about it though, he has to be much older than them for three reasons (I've seen theories online):**

 **First, Midoriya always goes back to the video during the hero's prime (and before the first AFO battle) since he was four, which would make the hero _at least_ 20-30 already. Then, it's known that Endeavor has tried to make a name _after_ All Might but could never surpass him, so he "created" Todoroki (Endeavor himself is 45 y/o). Lastly, Gran Tornio looks to be about 70? and he was All Might's mentor. **

**So... I'd say he's around 45-50? What do you all think?**


	6. Fine Line Between

**Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _fine line between_

.

.

.

A few days passed since the media uproar about All Might and peace returned to U.A.

"For today's hero basic training, it's turned into a class with three instructors. All Might, me and one more person," Aizawa announced with his usual tone, his droopy eyes staring back at the bewildered looks that his students were giving him. Sero Hanta raised his hand.

"Excuse me! What exactly will we be doing?"

The hero took out a card from his pocket and showed it to the class. It was similar to All Might's "BATTLE" card, except this one said "RESCUE". "Disasters, shipwrecks, and everything in between," he drawled. "It's rescue training."

 _Eh? That's not exactly Eraserhead's area of expertise, but it could be fun..._ Shiro pondered thoughtfully. Her Quirk was efficient at finding people quickly and she is able to manipulate the chances of harm to prevent causalities, so it seemed like a good training practice for her. The rest of her classmates also started to murmur excitedly about the training, but when the hero pointedly called out that he wasn't finished with announcements, they immediately quieted down again in fear of facing the man's wrath.

"You can decide if you want to wear your costume or not this time. There are probably costumes that limit your abilities... The training will take place off-campus, so we're taking a bus. Get ready and meet outside in ten minutes. Now shoo."

They didn't need to be told twice and immediately went to grab their hero suits and headed towards the changing rooms. After Shiro slipped into her suit and tied the ribbons securely in her hair, she met the others outside by the parked bus. Everyone decided to wear their costumes as well, but Midoriya was one exception. His suit did get destroyed during the combat training after all, and repairs from the support company takes a few days.

A shrilling whistle made everyone turn their attention towards Iida. "Class 1-A, gather round!" the class president ordered once everyone was present and pointed to the space in front of the bus. "Form two lines by your student numbers in order to make boarding the bus go smoothly!"

"Iida-kun's at full throttle..." Midoriya commented.

But as they all boarded the bus, the class president had turned from confident to sulking at his seat. Those sitting in the immediate vicinity of the male all gave him sympathetic looks. The bus wasn't exactly fit for his vision of seating, seeing as the front of the bus had two rows facing each other while the back of the bus had the two-person seating on each side and was facing forward.

Shiro ended up sitting next to Tokoyami in the first row of the left side in the back. Right across the aisle from her was Jiro, who was listening to music and Bakugou, who stared out the window. She found her seatmate to be quite reserved himself, but she didn't mind and closed her eyes to make the bus ride pass by quicker.

She was just about to nod off when another one of Tsuyu's blunt comments caused a cascade of responses that ended up triggering a certain hot-headed blonde.

"Bakugou-chan's always mad, so he doesn't seem like he'll be popular."

"The hell! You wanna fight!?"

"We haven't known each other that long, so it's amazing that everyone already knows his personality is crap steeped in sewage," Kaminari remarked with a smirk as the other blonde became increasingly offended.

"What's with that vocabulary, you bastard?! I'll kill you!"

 _I can't believe this... Kacchan is being teased...!_ Midoriya was in such a state of shock that he looked visibly disturbed. _That's U.A. for you!_

On the other hand, seeing that the tranquility of the bus was so rudely disrupted, Shiro grew irritated. "You're too loud," she uttered with her eyes still closed. Next to her, Tokoyami, too, had his eyes closed as he nodded along silently.

"Ha?" Bakugou's attention snapped towards both of them with anger burning his face. He was ready to jump out of his seat and fight someone. "How about I rip out those pigtails and stuff them up your damn ears!"

"Oh yeah?" she opened her eyes and challenged. "You said that last time but I don't see any progress made from your empty threats."

"I don't even fucking remember that but I'll fucking do it this time, Pigtails!" he scowled, but his lips were quirked up in an excited grin. She mirrored it.

"I'll see you try, Prickhead!"

"Fight me then!"

"Oh, I will!"

A wave of electricity zapped between their fiery red eyes as they glared at one another in contempt. They didn't get along, but they were always oddly in sync.

"How vulgar," Momo covered her mouth with revulsion and disapproval of the explosive male. "How can he talk to a female like that?" In response, Uraraka giggled besides the girl as she looked to be enjoying the _lively_ conversation of the bus.

"But it's kind of fun to watch! Shiro-chan brings out the best of his reactions!"

"Oi, stop messing around," Aizawa warned from the front. The bus settled down as they finally approached a large glass-like dome structure. "We're here."

* * *

"Everyone, I have been waiting for you!"

As soon as the students stepped off the bus, they were greeted by a hero in a recognizable astronaut suit. Many of their mouths were agape with awe at the real person before them.

"It's the Space Hero: Thirteen!" Midoriya's fanboy mode kicked in, his fists curled with delight. "The gentlemanly hero who has rescued tons of people from disasters!"

"I love Thirteen!" Uraraka, too, could barely contain her excitement as she stared at her favorite hero who inspired her costume.

"Let's go inside without delay," the hero said, and the students followed obediently. Kaminari was walking besides Shiro at the back of the group and had a curious grin on his face.

"Hey, since you live with Aizawa-sensei and all, you must get to meet a lot of heroes! This must not be as exciting for you as it is for the rest of us."

The girl blinked at the blonde's assumption. With the nature of Aizawa's work often being solo or low-profile, the heroes who come into contact with him don't typically form long-term bonds. He wasn't the type to have relations outside of work, anyway. So like the rest of them, she's only heard or seen the heroes on television. She only personally know a few heroes, and one of them was the energetic Present Mic.

"Actually..." her ruby eyes sparkled slightly and there was a tiny dust of pink on her cheeks as she whispered with wavering composer, "I-I'm pretty excited, too."

 _W-What a cute expression...!_ If it was possible for Kaminari to be electrocuted by his own Quirk and got sent to heaven, then that was probably how he was feeling at the moment. At their small conversation, Iida turned around to quiet them down so that they could pay attention to Thirteen's instructions he presented the students what was inside the giant dome.

The inside was sectioned off according to the nature of the disasters. There was a shipwreck scene, a landslide, fire, windstorm, and much more. If each area didn't contain perilous disasters, one might mistake it for the Universal Studios Japan.

"This is a training ground that I made with different types of accidents and disasters," Thirteen explained with enthusiasm. "I call it the 'Unforeseen Simulation Joint', or USJ for short!"

 _It really is USJ..._ the students thought.

"Thirteen, where's All Might?" Aizawa inquired as he walked up to the hero. "He was supposed to meet us here."

"About that..."

The rescue hero explained in a low whisper about the situation to Aizawa. Shiro only picked up something about All Might running out of time and her head tilted in confusion. _Does that mean he won't be joining us today?_

"That's the height of irrationality," Aizawa sighed as he turned back to the students. "It can't be helped then. Let's just begin."

"Let's see.. Before we begin, let me say one thing... Or two... Or three... Six... Seven..." Thirteen counted off frantically as he gathered his thoughts. The hero was quite comedic in a sense. "Ah. Everyone, I'm sure you are aware of my Quirk, Black Hole," he finally began and demonstrated a small scale of his Quirk. "I can suck up anything and turn it to dust, and I use it to rescue people from disasters. However, it is a power that can kill easily. Some of you also have Quirks like that, right?"

Everyone looked around and thought about their Quirks. It was true, some of them did have powers that could seriously injure others if they wanted to.

"In a superhuman society, personal Quirks have been certified and stringently regulated, so that doesn't seem to be a problem at first glance. However, please do not forget that there are many Quirks that can easily kill with one wrong step," Thirteen gripped his fist in an encouraging manner. "With Aizawa's physical fitness test, you found out about the possibility of your own hidden powers, and with All Might's person-to-person combat training, I think you experienced the danger of using powers against others. This class is a fresh start. You shall learn how to use you Quirks to save people's lives!

"Remember, your powers are not meant to inflict harm. I hope you leave here with the understanding that you have powers in order to help others."

With the hero's speech coming to an end, the students roared with applause as he bowed. _This is what it means to be a hero..._ Shiro was just as moved as everyone else. _Like Eraserhead said, this is 'Plus Ultra'!_

"All right then," Aizawa piped to calm down their bravos. He pointed to towards the center plaza where a large fountain stood. "First—"

 _BZZZZZT!_

The lights around the dome flickered and many of them dimmed from what looked like a sudden power surge. The fountain also started sputtering random bursts of water, and suddenly an ominous black fog warped into view before it expanded across the area.

Aizawa whipped his head around just as a hand stretched out through the fog. "Gather together and don't move!" he ordered urgently as more people appeared out of the black fog. "Thirteen, protect the students!"

"Is this like the entrance exam where the lesson's already started?" Kirishima wondered as he peered over at the men and women coming out of the black fog. Midoriya also leaned forward with a step to take a closer look, but Shiro quickly grabbed both of their arms and pulled them back.

"S-Shiro-san?"

"The look on Eraserhead's face..." she revealed with a worried frown. Aizawa was putting on the goggles that masked his line of sight from his opponent's point of view, and his posture wasn't relaxed anymore. "I don't think this is a simulation anymore."

"Don't tell me..." Midoriya gulped in fear.

"Those are villains," Aizawa confirmed as the bindings around his neck flared. "Don't move."

"Only Thirteen and Eraserhead?" the voice behind the fog said. Gleaming yellow eyes appeared from the darkness as it morphed into a shapeless head. "The teacher's schedule we received the other day said that All Might was also supposed to be here."

"So these scumbags were behind the trespassing," the hero muttered. He should've known that villains were behind this since the media drew their attentions with the announcement of All Might being at the school. _Damn it..._ He quickly ordered some of the students to perform certain tasks so they can try to get everyone out of USJ safely. He will deal with the villains.

"What about you, sensei?! You can't be thinking of a frontal battle..." Midoriya said with concern. He knows the stats and battle style of the hero from all the data he's gathered throughout the years. "Isn't your style based on capturing after erasing the enemy's Quirk? With so many of them..."

"You can't be a hero with just one trick, kid," Aizawa said. "Thirteen, I'm leaving the rest to you." The crowd of villains advanced forward as the hero jumped from the stairs to intercept them.

"Where is he? I went through the trouble of bringing this whole crowd, too..." A skinny man with many dismembered hands latching onto him said as he stood watch with another monstrous looking character. "All Might... The Symbol of Peace... I can't believe he's not here. Oh, but look..."

The man was greatly upset with the fact, but he was looking at the students with absolute malice.

"I wonder if he'll come if we kill some kids?"

* * *

It all happened too fast.

One minute Aizawa was ordering them to escape with Thirteen as he went off to face the onslaught of villains, and the next minute the fog villain had engulfed them under his dome of black fog after Kirishima and Bakugou attempted to attack him.

"Guys, move away!" Thirteen ordered, but the smoke was too thick and the hero tried his best to retrieve some of the students.

 _"My job is to scatter you and torture you to death!"_

The villain's voice bellowed as Shiro felt her surroundings begin to swirl. She heard the sound of a metal armor behind her and determined that it might be either Iida or Aoyama. "Iida-san!" she shouted, hoping that it was the former.

"Shiro-kun?!"

 _Yes!_ "Your Quirk makes you the fastest our class, so you have to escape and get help!" she told him quickly, getting him close enough so that she could at least vaguely see him through the fog. He was holding Uraraka and Sato in an attempt to rescue some people out. "I increased a favorable probability field around you, so go—!" she gave him one last push before she got warped away.

"Shiro-kun!" Iida looked back at the mass of swirling fog, but there was no reply. Those that didn't make it out in time had all been scattered across USJ.

"Your classmate is right," Thirteen nodded at the stunned class president as the villain's fog retracted after finishing his job. "I also entrust this duty to you. Run to the school and tell them about what's happening here."

Iida looked conflicted, "But it would be a disgrace to leave everyone behind! Shiro-kun and the others—"

"Use your Quirk in order to save others! Your classmate wanted you to do the same thing, didn't she? That's why she got you out of there!"

The hero's words struck him as the students around him gave him determined looks. "We'll help in any way that we can, too!" Uraraka said as Sero and Sato pumped their fists.

"We got your back!"

 _Everyone..._ Iida nodded, a new resolve etched on his face as a burst of speed powered his legs. He felt that he was even faster than usual, and that could be contributed to the decrease in any chance of wind or natural resistance that Shiro gifted him. The fog villain tried to catch up to him, only to be intercepted and restrained by his helping classmates, and Iida reached for the door. _I will not let Shiro-kun's or anyone else's efforts go to waste!_

* * *

 _Splat!_

Midoriya and Mineta were hauled onto the single ship in the middle of the shipwreck zone before Tsuyu climbed her way up as well. It seems like they were the only ones transported to this location.

"This has turned into a bad situation," the girl said, referring back to the villain's demand to see All Might. Midoriya nodded; he wasn't sure if the hero's absence was a good thing or a bad thing. But one thing was for sure...

"Looking at the big picture, those guys must've set up the media intrusion the other day to get information. They were waiting to pounce," he frowned.

"But it's not like they can kill All Might!" Mineta was convinced. The hero was the Symbol of Peace! He was the top hero for a reason! "Once All Might comes, he'll pound those guys! He'll this—! And that—!"

"Mineta-chan," Tsuyu interrupted. "Don't you think they are trying so hard because they have a way to kill him? Guys that strong just told us they would torture us to death, you know. I wonder if we'll be able to hold out until All Might arrives... Even if All Might comes, I wonder if we will all make it out in one piece..."

As the girl continued to lay out the reality of the situation bluntly, Midoriya couldn't help but get more concerned. _She's probably right, but why are they doing this? Is it because he's the one and only Symbol of Peace? Because he deflects all evil? No, I mean..._

The villains started emerging from under the water and were advancing towards them. There was no time to think about these trivial things.

 _...I don't care about the 'why' right now!_

Through all the times he's observed his classmates and the example of All Might himself, if there was anything to learn, it was that he needed to be fast at acting. Sometimes there was just no time to mule over _what ifs_ and _whys_ ; you just have to do it. That's how Bakugou could be so fast and good at what he does. That's how Shiro was able to keep up with Todoroki and send Iida out for help. That's how Iida was a better leader than him. That's how All Might could stay as the number one hero...!

"If those guys have a way to defeat All Might, then right now, we should be stopping whatever they're planning... By fighting and winning!"

And that was exactly what the students of class 1-A were all thinking.

* * *

Shiro was hanging on to the side of a half-submerged building with her _kusarigama_ as she watched the villains that tried to ambush her plummet down the originally six-story building, instantly knocking them unconscious and probably breaking a few bones. Dislodging her sickle to get down as well, her left eye swirled to break her fall.

After Kurogiri warped them into his black fog, she was sent to the Landslide Zone on the side that was facing the central plaza. Here she encountered a handful of villains that came at her, but she quickly realized that they were of no serious threat. If anything, they were only at the level of common thugs.

 _They called themselves the League of Villains though,_ she thought as another villain swung at her. She dodged and used a ribbon to bind him, then she sent a punch to his face to knock him out.

 _Somehow this doesn't feel right,_ she frowned as she tried to see what was happening in the plaza. If there was any real threat, it was the fog guy and the other two villains she saw hanging by the fountain, but by the time the hero gets through the mass of weak villains, the chance that he'll be at his limit is extremely high.

 _I hope Iida got out to get help..._ she reached for one of the reserved smoke bombs in her utility belt as another wave of villains emerged. _I need to see how Eraserhead's doing but these damn villains keep coming!_

"You guys are _really_ starting to piss me off," she growled and threw the bomb towards them before attacking.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Landslide Zone...

" _'Scatter you and kill you'_ , huh?" Todoroki recited as an icy cold breath left his lips. He looked at all of the villains he froze unimpressively. "I hate to say this, but you just look like guys with Quirks they didn't know what to do with."

"T-This guy... The minute we warped here..."

"Is he really a kid? O-Ow, shit..."

Todoroki walked down the path of ice with a frown marring his face. Two villains jumped out to ambush him, but they were clumsy and easily contained by the expansion of his ice. _They're really just a rag-tag team of villains..._ he thought as he broke off the spear one villain was aiming at him before being engulfed by ice.

"Hey," he walked up to the frozen villain and stared at him without a speck of mercy in his heterochromatic eyes. "At this rate, your cells will slowly die. I want to be a hero, so I'd like to avoid something so cruel if possible... On what basis do you think you can kill All Might? What's your plan?"

The frozen villain looked absolutely terrified as Todoroki's right hand hovered threateningly before his face. "W-Wait!" he pleaded. "W-We were only told to follow them to defeat the heroes! They s-said they have a secret weapon a-against All Might!"

"Them?" Todoroki prompted further, the ice intensifying. "What's their secret weapon?"

"S-Shigaraki-san and Kurogiri-san! And I'm not sure, but they call it 'Nomu'! T-That's all I know! Honest!"

Hearing everything that he needed from the man, Todoroki used his left hand to released an intense amount of heat to thaw the area, making the villains drop like flies before they sunk partially into the now muddy ground. By now, the villains were suffering superficial frostbite and wouldn't be able to move from pain in a while.

Walking away from the scene, Todoroki determined that his next move would be to go towards the center plaza and assist Aizawa before help arrives. He noticed that there was traces of smoke coming from the other side and upon nearing it, sounds of combat could be heard. _Someone got warped here with me._

He made out the moving figure to be the girl he was paired against during All Might's combat training and saw that she was holding her own despite not having a Quirk like his to dispose of multiple opponents at once. But it would take her a lot longer to defeat them all, so he decided to step in.

As soon as his foot made contact on the ground near her vicinity, she whipped her weapon towards him upon reflex thinking that he was another villain. Todoroki dodged the first one as a black ribbon shot out at him again with the intent to restrain him, and the villains around them used this opportunity to charge. With quick reflexes and overwhelming power, he froze the area completely while jumping forward to grab the girl so she wouldn't get engulfed in the blast.

His sudden appearance had surprised Shiro greatly and she twisted herself in a way that made Todoroki loosen his hold on her mid-air. "Todoroki-san?" she gasped when she saw who it was. But she was falling towards a pile of sharp rubble.

Todoroki quickly pulled her towards his body again while another wave of ice shot out from his right hand to smooth out the ground. They tumbled and slid down the icy path with Todoroki covering her the best he can before a wall of ice stopped them.

Shiro winced as she prop herself up. Heterochromatic eyes opened and stared up at her, and she felt herself grow as red as the male's hair upon realizing that she was on top of him. She scooted away as one arm attempted to cover her face, "Y-You jumped out of nowhere!"

Todoroki was silent and unbothered as he propped himself up, but Shiro's eyes furrowed when she saw that his left arm had a small gash. "You're bleeding!" she exclaimed as she kneeled back down by him. The gash wasn't too big, but blood was seeping out from the wound. She took his arm and tried to stop the blood. Todoroki watched as she worked diligently to clean the wound and then using a ribbon to bandage up his arm. Her touch was very gentle...

"This would've been avoided if you didn't decide to step in suddenly, you know," she mumbled before finishing up. He gave her a serious look.

"I don't doubt that you could take those villains by yourself, but I took cared of the rest so that you could save some energy. With so many more villains around, you don't want to run out of steam this quick."

She hated that he always had a some sort of level-headed comment for her. But, she _was_ too zealous in trying to get through the villains as fast as possible that she accidentally attacked an alley. Her ruby eyes soften, "I know... But I have to get to Eraserhead. The villains are planning something... I have this bad feeling in my gut."

"You're not wrong about that," Todoroki nodded. "I was just heading over myself."

"Let's go together, then," she got up and extended a hand towards the male. He merely stared at it and she rolled her eyes. He was back to being cold. "It's my fault that you were injured. Just take it so maybe I can feel a little better about myself," she said. Though, he chose to stand up by himself and she let out an annoyed huff.

Walking side by side in silence, Shiro's foot suddenly made contact with a medium length metal rod and it rolled forward. She watched as the rod broke in half when it hit a protruding rock and the chain-link inside spilled out.

"Woah, these are like two-in-one nunchucks," she picked it up and reattached it. An excited grin made its way to her face. "This'll make a great weapon!"

"Is there a reason why you prefer using weapons over your Quirk?" Todoroki asked with mild curiously. First it was the _kusarigama,_ the ribbons, smoke bombs, and now the nunchucks. There was more space on her utility belt to store more as well.

"Normally, my Quirk can do things like increase the chances that the ground you're standing on becomes seismically active or decrease the chance that a fatal blow will hit me, et cetera, but the extent that I can use it isn't limitless. My other ability, reality rewrite, currently takes about a quarter of my energy each use. It takes even more to rewrite on something large or someone extremely powerful though... Best case is I pass out, but worst case, I'll overstimulate my eyes and cause serious damage to myself," she explained with a shrug. "I'm slowly trying to increase my stamina, but I still have to train my Quirk to use energy more efficiently. Being versatile with weapons just gives me more options during battle."

"And if there's no weapon available?"

"I'll find a way," she said. "You can't be a hero with just one trick, you know."

The same words Aizawa said to Midoriya had come back to direct at Todoroki, and he realized that despite the girl and the Erasure hero was not related by blood, they were indeed very similar. "You're too much like Aizawa-sensei," he stated.

The ruby eyed girl blinked at him with thought. "Well, I _do_ respect Eraserhead a lot... But I'm still my own person. Just like how you are your own person, Todoroki-san," she pointed a finger over his left chest. "So the person you choose to become is from your own heart, isn't it?"

 _"If it's **you**... It's okay for you to become who you want to be."_

Todoroki widened his heterochromatic eyes at the trigger of memory that surfaced from the girl's words. But remembering his childhood, his left hand unconsciously curled into a tight fist. _I want to be a hero..._ _But not with **this** Quirk... _

There suddenly was a giant explosion from the center plaza, and they snapped their heads over.

"We have to go!" Shiro prompted before taking off.

* * *

Quickly making their way to the scene of the giant explosion, the duo couldn't see much but smoke and villains and debris laying around. But as the smoke slowly cleared, they saw two things of great concern.

One, Midoriya had punched the black monstrous looking villain with his superhuman strength and that was what caused the demolition. Two, the other skinny looking villain with the hands was dangerously close to Tsuyu and Mineta, who had terrified looks in their eyes. But neither of those amounted to the concern Shiro had to what she saw next.

Half of a broken yellow goggle had been thrown near her feet. "Who..." she staggered towards where the other half of the goggle lie near a pile of destruction. "Did..." her breath was getting ragged, like it was caught in her throat. The ground beneath her feet had been upturned and rubble was everywhere. She stopped right before the pool of crimson blood mixed in with the rocks. Aizawa's arms were bent at concerning angles and he was unresponsive.

 _"...This?"_ The last word came out like a pathetic croak. "TELL ME!" she screamed, turning towards the two villains. Their attention landed on her completely and Midoriya was able to get Tsuyu and Mineta away from danger. Meanwhile, Todoroki held Shiro back so she wouldn't blindly jump into battle without any caution.

"Look Nomu, we have more players," Shigaraki commented amusingly. The single ruby eye that was visible between the gap from the hand was fixated on Shiro. "Let's clear them quickly."

Todoroki immediately got into a defensive stance when he heard the villain's order. Ice started to form rapidly from his right hand but then Shiro ran in front of him. "Aisaka!" he shouted, pulling her back so that his ice wouldn't impale her. "What are you thinking—!" he twisted her around but when her eyes met his, he saw that she was crying.

He widened his eyes; her tearful face laced with disbelief and horror really struck him. Perhaps it was because she triggered a memory earlier, because what he saw was his mother's crying face in hers. _No... Don't cry... Please..._

Angrily, he sent a wall of ice at the thing called Nomu as it roared, raising a giant arm just before the ice engulfed his body. Nomu smashed through the barrier and Todoroki gritted his teeth, sending another blast of ice towards the monster. But when the _thing_ managed blast Todoroki into the air with his powerful fists, it snapped clarity back into Shiro.

 _No..._ she bit the bottom of her lip and wiped the rest of her tears away with resolve. _I can't let him get hurt again because of me!_

The air around Todoroki picked up and became heavy, allowing him to land gently onto the ground.

"Todoroki-san... Take cover."

 _The fastest way to get rid of them..._

Todoroki grew increasingly concerned when he saw the girl's eyes. She no longer had tears in her eyes; instead, they were bloodshot as the two different colored dials spun rapidly.

"I'm going to rewrite their existence...!"

* * *

 **We're getting closer to revealing Shiro's past! Please leave a review :)**


	7. Aisaka Shiragiku: Origin

**Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _aisaka shiragiku: origin_

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 _The little girl knew that the building was burning down, but she couldn't find a way out. All she remembered was that there was a loud explosion and a villain crashed into the building to wreck havoc with his fire Quirk and scattered everyone inside. The smoke was burning her throat, making it hard for her to breathe._

 _"Nii-san..."_

 _She jumped at the loud creak above her head. When she looked up, the villain was perched above a large wooden supporting bar and was looking at her with a dangerous grin. "You lost, little girl?" She tried to run but her feet got caught under some fallen debris and she tripped._

 _ **CRACK!**_

 _The bar had collapsed under the villain's added weight, and they were plummeting straight towards her. **Make it disappear make it disappear make it disappear—!** Absolute fear consumed her as she felt her eyes burn, but this time it wasn't because of the smoke and tears. She drew her hands up in fear in an attempt to block it, and suddenly the wooden bar and the villain disappeared at just the slightest touch of her fingertips._

 _Then, a large figure crashed in just seconds later. "It's fine now...!" Through the smoke, she saw a muscular man with a hero suit on. His blonde bangs stood as majestically as his own form. "Because I am here!"_

 _The little girl's terrified eyes stayed unblinking as the hero picked her up._

 _"What is your name, young child?" his voice boomed._

 _"Shiragiku..." she rasped. "H-Help me find nii-san..."_

 _He grinned with a quick nod, making the girl smile a little at the reassurance. "I will go find him! Then I will go catch the villain responsible for this!"_

 _"U-Um..." He felt her tug at his suit. "I made the villain d-disappear... Do you need him back?"_

 _The hero gave her a questioning stare, and that's when he saw the different colored dials in her terribly strained ruby eyes spin again. Then, the girl passed out..._

 _Static-like waves ripped through the air and the hero dodged just in time as the villain and the bar appeared and continued its course in crashing down to the ground where the girl had originally fallen. Upon landing, the villain looked around in absolute confusion before he was faced with the hero._

 _"A-All Might!?"_

 _"It is me!" the hero grinned before he knocked the daylights out of the man. **Now, the young child said there's another—** However, the building was quickly crumbling. **Shit!** Securing the girl in his arms before grabbing the villain, he brought them both to safety before the building collapsed. Making sure the villain was apprehended and the unconscious girl was passed to a doctor, All Might immediately went back to search for anyone who may be still trapped inside and left no stone unturned. _

_However, he did not find a single person..._

[]

 _The little girl woke up in the hospital several days later. The lack of oxygen sent to her brain during the fire along with the aftershock from using a newly developed Quirk far beyond her current capabilities had short-circuited her brain and wiped out most of her memory, so she was beyond confused about why she was in a hospital or even who she was._

 _Although All Might never got the chance to visit the little girl personally because he was so busy with hero work, he did put in a favor. The building she was found in was an orphanage, and with no available documents, he couldn't find the brother she mentioned or any living kin, so the least he could do was have her taken cared of._

 _It was also because he saw potential in the girl. When the villain was questioned, he had expressed that he had no idea what happened, only that he felt like he really just disappeared out of existence for a few minutes. Tests revealed that her Quirk was to manipulate probability, but at its full potential, she can even warp reality. All Might understood immediately that back there, it was because she wanted the danger to disappear, so the reality of the danger was rewrote to cease its existence when a part of her body made contact._

 _It was a rare as well as a dangerous Quirk, and she had to be set on a proper path so that the Quirk can be controlled and used **for good.**_

 _And thus, a confused, four-year-old Shiragiku met a grumpy, 26-year-old Aizawa Shota._

* * *

"I'm going to rewrite their existence...!"

Todoroki was immediately at Shiro's side, gripping her arm with a condemnatory expression. "Are you out of your mind?" he said seriously. "You know they are not on the same level as those thugs. Do you honestly think your body can take that?"

 _"...It takes even more energy to rewrite on something large or someone extremely powerful though... Best case is I pass out, but worst case, I'll overstimulate my eyes and cause serious damage to myself."_

"Even if I can't... What kind of _hero_ would I be if I just let them continue to hurt everyone I care about?!" Shiro yelled, twisting her arm out of the male's grip and charged at Shigaraki. He was the one ordering around the monster, so she needed to get rid of him first. _I need to get close enough to him...!_

"Heroes... They're the trash of society..." Shigaraki muttered as his fingers started scratching the side of his neck obsessively. "Nomu," he ordered, and the monster immediately turned to the girl. "I want her dead."

A large fist slammed down at Shiro, but she managed to dodge it with just a scrape as she continued her path towards Shigaraki. Nomu followed behind and with inhuman speed, reached out to grab her. His inky hands squeezed down on her arm and she could feel the skin tear and bone crack beneath the strong mass of muscle. Gritting her teeth in pain, she focused to rewrite the cellular structure of her entire arm into billions of individual cells in order to scatter it to escape Nomu's grasp, and the sensation was akin to her skin being ripped apart little by little. Once released, she quickly restored the structural integrity of her arm before the cells die off and her arm no longer felt crushing pain.

Shigaraki cursed at Nomu for failing to keep her back. He was angry, _so_ angry at just looking at _her_ and everything she's become. " _You_... I _despise_ you... So..." his arm shot out, "Die... _Shiragiku!_ "

Shiro faltered for a second when her name left the villain's lips. _How does he know my—_ But that second of distraction allowed his five fingers to make contact with the safety glasses on her face. The impenetrable glass cracked and immediately started to disintegrate to dust and she knew the next thing would be her skin, so she leaned back and swung her leg at him. She _just_ needed to make contact.

"Cease to exist, _villain_...!"

Nomu's arm immediately shot out to grab her again as Shigaraki recoiled several feet back with his eyes round with shock. The effects of Shiro's existence rewrite was immediately effective on Nomu; since the monster was the one who made contact with her, one side of his body was starting to disappear, albeit slowly because of his tremendous power reserve. The Nomu cried out a shrill roar as it slammed Shiro at a boulder, ultimately breaking her rewrite command, and swung at her.

In a last effort to lessen the damage that was about to happen to her, her left eye subconsciously activated by itself and lowered the harm by 99%. Nomu's fist hit the boulder instead as Shiro slid down to the ground. The boulder started to crumble.

 _"Shiro-san!"_ Midoriya cried as he felt his legs move on his own. Flicking a finger on the ground for a boost from his One for All, he instantly grabbed the girl just as Todoroki sent a blast of ice to Nomu before he could get near the badly injured girl again.

"M-Mido..." Nomu was only halfway destroyed, and to Shiro's horror, the monster was _regenerating_. _It didn't work..._ she tried to get up, only to feel a jolting pain when moving her body.

"Please don't move, Shiro-san! You're hurt badly!" Midoriya could see that the nerves and muscles around the injured girl's left eye was damaged because she couldn't keep it open all the way. She was hurt all over her body from the impact of being slammed, too.

"She's at her limit," Todoroki said when he managed to reach them. He looked at her critically before turning to the curly haired male. "Midoriya, have Asui and Mineta help you take Aizawa-sensei to safety. I'll get her out of here."

 _H-Her limit...?_ Midoriya thought shakily. _Shiro-san just jumped in without a care for herself..._

 _She almost... She almost..._ Shigaraki was also shaking, both from fear and anger, as his bloodshot eyes narrowed at the people surrounding Shiro."Nomu!" he was deranged now, "Kill all of them! It's game over!"

At the order, Nomu charged. Tsuyu and Mineta were the first in the monster's line of sight.

"Tsuyu-chan, Mineta-kun!" Midoriya braced himself and threw his fist back. _I have to protect my classmates!_ The monster was somehow able to take blows without damage and he knew this time it would be the same, but if he can even just divert its attention... "Sma—!"

 _"It's fine now...!"_

The door at the entrance of USJ suddenly smashed open, the blow sending a powerful gust of wind across the entire vicinity. Everyone froze and turned their heads towards the newcomer's presence, and relief immediately washed over the faces of class 1-A.

Shiro saw a large figure walk through the smoke. She vaguely felt that this scene was in some way familiar...

 _"...Because I am here!"_

All Might's fists curled tightly as his mouth was set to a wrathful sneer. The hero was not smiling this time.

* * *

Tsuyu and Mineta took care of taking the unconscious Aizawa towards where Uraraka and the others were. Thirteen was also gravely wounded by his own Quirk when Kurogiri warped the black hole towards the hero, but with All Might here, it was over for the villains.

Shiro felt herself being lifted up in someone's arms. Her body was banged up with deep scrapes and bruises. A rib was pressing uncomfortably at her left lung, making each breath a slight challenge. "Did I mess up...?" she whispered as she looked up to see who was carrying her.

"You messed up your body," Todoroki deprecated. "But you managed to buy us some time before All Might showed up."

The hero was currently in a fist-to-fist combat with Nomu, yet Nomu was not showing signs of being even remotely damaged by the powerful blows. That just shows how strong the monster was. One punch from it and they would've been as good as dead. It was even a miracle that the girl in his arms attempted to face the villain... But had she been successful with rewriting Nomu's existence, her body would've completely shut down from forcing out all of her stamina.

"Well..." Shiro gave the frowning male a half-smile. It was what she could manage at the moment with the nerves on parts of her face losing feeling. "At least I can feel a little better about myself now. You know, for injuring you earlier."

"...You're ridiculous," he said just as she felt darkness slowly consume her. Closing her ruby eyes with exhaustion, she missed the expression she managed to etch on Todoroki's face.

It was the first time since his childhood that he'd smiled again.

* * *

The entire USJ rumbled like a small earthquake as All Might sent the final punch to the monster the League of Villains brought in. Everyone looked in awe as the inky body blasted through the dome and ascended high above the sky with such intense velocity.

It was at this time that Iida also returned with their principal, Nezu, and every available Pro Hero working in U.A.

The heroes worked quickly to dispose of any lingering threat as well as gather those who were injured in the process to the main entrance. The more fatally injuried will be sent to the hospital immediatly while the others will be tended to by Recovery Girl. Todoroki was just about to pass Shiro to one of the heroes when Bakugou and the rest, after being sent away from All Might and Midoriya by Cementoss, gathered around.

"Oi," he stalked over with a disbelieving glare. "What the hell happened to Pigtails?"

"Shiro-chan!" Kirishima also exclaimed, running up to the unmoving girl with a worry-stricken face. "I-Is she...?"

"She's just unconscious," Todoroki said. "But she needs to be treated. She sustained a lot of damage from that villain."

"What? Why _the fuck_ would you let her go against that gorilla bird-brain?!" the blonde questioned incredulously. Even _h_ _e_ couldn't react fast enough when the monster came at him. If it wasn't for All Might, he would've been smashed to a pulp! "Look what it did to her! Weaklings should just stay in the sideline until help comes! Is she stupid—"

"She's not weak," Todoroki cut in, surprising not only the blonde but the rest of his classmates. "That villain was made to fight All Might, but she held up long enough to not let it defeat her. If you don't understand something, just keep your mouth shut next time."

Bakugou's eyes twitched at the male's statement and he curled up his fists provokingly, "Don't fucking lecture me, you half and half bastard!"

"B-Bakugou-kun, this not the time to argue with Todoroki-kun!" Uraraka shouted courageously at the blonde, despite being scared of him normally. "We need to get Shiro-chan and the others treated!"

"Yeah, and we just _ended_ a fight! Stop messing around!" Mina scolded with her hands on her hips.

"That's right, listeners!" Present Mic came up behind them. The hero took the unconscious girl carefully into his arms before clicking his tongue. "You guys head out and leave the rest to the Pros, yeah!"

At all of their chiding, Bakugou backed off with a scoff. He honestly didn't mean his words to be as harsh as it was, but it just came out that way because he was pissed. If he were to be honest, aside from the _annoying Deku_ and Kirishima, Shiro was the only other person he had regular interactions with and he has this conflicting tolerance for her. She always challenged him, but in a way that kept things entertaining.

Walking past the Voice Hero with his hands stuffed angrily in his pockets, he stopped to give the unconscious girl a brief stare. "You better wake up soon, Pigtails, 'cause you promised you'll fight me," he muttered before leaving.

"Eh...?" Present Mic crooned. He really didn't understand what goes through kids' minds these days. Leaving it alone, his focused his attention back on the girl cradled in his arms and sighed. He was glad that she wasn't in any critical condition, but to see her like this still made him uneasy.

"Like mentor, like student, huh? What a reckless kiddo..."

* * *

"Because of the situation this time, I can't really scold you..." Recovery Girl sighed as she looked at the hero who laid on the bed with his eyes staring at the ceiling.

"I'm not sure, but I think I might've shortened the time limit of my hero form again. I hope I still have at least an hour..."

"Excuse me."

The old woman turned towards the detective standing just outside the nurse's office door as he took off his hat in greeting. She nodded and offered him a welcoming smile. All Might, in his emaciated form, looked surprised to see the detective as he lifted himself up from the bed.

"Tsukauchi-kun! You're here, too?"

"It's been a while, All Might."

Midoriya looked between the two with wide eyes. "All Might! Is it alright to show that form...?"

"Yeah," the hero reassured. "It's fine. He's Tsukauchi Naomasa, my best friend in the force."

Tsukauchi chuckled lightly at the introduction as he walked up towards them. He noticed that on the other side of the two, there was another girl occupying one of the two beds, but she was still unconscious. He had a head count of the students earlier, and it seemed that Midoriya and the girl were the only ones with deeper injuries. Midoriya's was from jumping in and using his One For All at the last moment to buy the hero a few seconds of time, and the girl's, he heard, was from before the hero even arrived at the scene. "Is she doing alright?" he asked Recovery Girl.

"Thankfully," the old woman nodded. "She has a cracked rib and a fissure fracture on her right forearm, along with some damaged nerves around the left side of her face, but I managed to heal most of it. The rest of the scrapes and bruises will have wait until she's recovered enough stamina. Overall, she's just exhausted."

Midoriya looked over at the sleeping girl with eyes gleaming with sadness. Like him, she had acted on impulse when she saw Aizawa in that defeated state. His green eyes shot up suddenly at the detective, "H-How's Aizawa-sensei?! And Thirteen-sensei?!"

"And the rest of the students?" All Might mirrored the boy's worried look. Tsukauchi gave them both a reassured smile.

"Don't worry, the rest of the students only had light injuries and have returned to the classroom. From the hospital report, Eraserhead has comminuted fractures in both arms and a facial fracture. Fortunately, he doesn't appear to have any serious brain damage, but his eyes may suffer some aftereffects from his shattered orbital floor. As for Thirteen, the laceration from the back to upper arm was bad, but he will survive. They're both in stable condition for now."

At that, they both let out a relieved sigh.

"If you three heroes had not risked your lives, then the students would not have survived."

"You're wrong about one thing, Tsukauchi-kun," All Might's blue eyes were deep and serious. "The students also fought and risked their lives. Have there even been any first-years who experienced a real fight so soon, survived, and learned of fear and the world of adults? The villains did something dumb. We heroes may be strong, but this class is strong as well," he made it a point to look at Midoriya and the sleeping girl across the room and smiled. "They will become strong heroes. I am certain of that."

* * *

Returning to the city in an unnamed bar, Kurogiri set the injured Shigaraki down on the floor before morphing back to his normal form. The skinny man writhed in pain; he had been shot in both arms and legs, and his wounds were still bleeding.

"Ouch... We lost completely..." he gritted with frustration. "Even Nomu was defeated...! Those useless underlings were defeated in an instant by the kids... They're strong... And _she_ almost made me disappear... Ha... The Symbol of Peace was also healthy...! You were wrong, Master!"

The small television screen displayed nothing but a dull background and a "sound only" signal, but a voice came through the device. _"No, I wasn't. We were just not prepared enough."_

 _"Yeah, we underestimated them. It's good that we did it under that cheap 'League of Villains' name. By the way, what about Master and my joint creation, Nomu?"_ Another man's voice asked. _"Was he not retrieved?"_

"He was blown away," Kurogiri walked up to the screen apologetically as the man let out a shout of frustration. "More precisely, without coordinates to his precise location, I could not find him even with my warp. We were forced to retreat."

 _"After all we did to make him as powerful as All Might!"_

 _"Well, I suppose it cannot be helped. That's unfortunate,"_ the first voice said, calming the other one down. _"What was it you said about someone making you disappear?"_

"..." Shigaraki looked away with a look of pure resentment, which was noticed by Kurogiri. Since the skinny man was too deep in his rage, he decided to report what he saw.

"It was a young girl, Master. I saw from my position at the time that she was going after Shigaraki with her Quirk. Nomu intercepted it and she somehow made parts of its body dematerialize, but Nomu was able to restore himself at the end."

 _"Oh? Did Nomu dispose of the girl then?"_

"No..." Shigaraki muttered, finally speaking up. His ruby eyes were bloodshot and he had the urge to scratch at the already-irritated skin on his neck. "She got _saved_... Those _heroes_..." he said with absolute venom lacing the word. "That other kid, too... He was as fast as All Might. If he hadn't gotten in the way, we might have been able to kill All Might... Damn it... Those brats...!"

 _"Ah. Of course you have regrets, but this was not a futile exercise."_

The Master seemed to understand, and he did not sound as surprised as one would expect him to. The pieces have been set in motion and everything was going according to his plan, despite this little drawback.

 _"Gather the elite. Take all the time you need. We cannot move freely, which is why we need a symbol like you, Shigaraki Tomura. **You** know better than anyone why heroes are the trash of society... Next time, show the world that you are to be feared."_

* * *

Midoriya picked up his yellow backpack and pulled the straps over his shoulders. The sun outside had set long ago and it was getting late; he was sure his mom was worried at home waiting for him. Before leaving the nurse's office, he glanced over at Shiro and his feet automatically took him towards her bed.

The girl was still deeply asleep, but it looked like she was no longer in pain like before. He was glad; usually he was the one getting himself hurt and sent to Recovery Girl, and while this time was no exception, he was so worried for Shiro as a classmate and as a friend.

"You're always so brave, Shiro-san..." he stared with an admiring expression.

It had come as a shock when she revealed that Aizawa was a sort of an adoptive father for her, but at the same, he should've expected something along the lines from the way she was so fearless and cool all the time. She wasn't the most outgoing person in class, but she always spoke up for what she felt was right. It was much evident with the way she always challenged Bakugou, and sometimes it was to stand up for him. Because of that, she was the first person he wrote about in his newest hero notebook for U.A.

He suddenly blushed at the thought. It would be pretty embarrassing if she found out _that_ was the reason...

"You're still here, Midoriya?"

The male jumped at Recovery Girl's sudden appearance, covering his red face with even more embarrassment. He had been caught red-handed staring down at Shiro like some weirdo! "A-Ah! I-I was just..."

"She will have to stay here overnight since she's sleeping anyway," the old woman seemed uninterested in his previous action. But then she chuckled, "It's okay, you can see her when class starts again."

Midoriya squeaked and nodded furiously. "O-Of course! Well then, I'll be on my way! Thank you very much!" he said quickly before leaving the nurse's office. The Recovery Hero shook her head with a small chuckle. She went over to give Shiro a quick check-up again, making sure that the girl will be fine by herself, and then she flicked the lights off in the room and shut the door gently.

Shiro was smiling slightly in her sleep; she must be having a good dream...

* * *

 _"And what makes you think I'll agree to this?"_

 _The little girl could hear someone speaking to one of the tall men in black outside her door. For a couple of days now, those people have been coming by to the hospital she found herself waking up in and checking up on her. Today it seemed that they brought another man, and he doesn't sound very happy._

 _"I'm sorry, but this is government orders. A special request from above have been put in for you. With you being out of the news, it's much easier as well..."  
_

 _Their voices were low and she couldn't hear much from them anymore. When she woke up with no memory, she had been scared, but everyone was so nice to her that she was slowly getting over it. The only thing they told her was that she was a victim of a disaster at an orphanage and that they were going to find her a home to stay, so that must be what they're discussing about...  
_

 _"I wonder if I'll go to a nice family...?" she mumbled to herself as she looked out the window. It was such a nice day out; she just wanted to get out of this hospital room!  
_

 _She quickly got her answer when the door to her room opened. The familiar men in black walked in first, and she had to peer around them to see the person they had been talking to._

 _It was a man with average build, wearing all black and had white bandages wrapped loosely around his neck. He had his hands stuffed in his pockets and a frown on his face. Just looking at him seemed to make the room gloomy._

 _"Hello, Shiragiku," one of the men greeted. "This is Aizawa Shota. He's a Pro Hero, so if you want to call him by his hero name Eraserhead, that's fine too."_

 ** _Pro... Hero?_** _she thought curiously._

 _"From today forward, he will be your caretaker. Let's get you ready so you can leave with him today. That sound good?"_

 _"Um..." t_ _he girl gripped the white bedsheets nervously. She was now wondering if she really wanted to leave this hospital room after all._

 _"We don't got all day, kid," Aizawa grunted before turning to head out the door. "Come on."_

[]

 _"I came to visit, yeah!"_

 _She blinked up at the person who suddenly barged into her new house. It was a man in sunset glasses with a head of crazy upturned blonde hair, and he was unnecessarily loud. He was also looking at her with great surprise._

 _"Who is this?! Eraserhead, I didn't know you had a kid! How can you not tell me, your **best friend**?!" _

_"Mic," Aizawa greeted the man boredly. "I'm her guardian and mentor. It's that government assignment I mentioned the other week."_

 _"Woah," the blonde man posed and pointed at her with excitement. "Hello, kiddo! You're not gonna have a lot of fun with this dude, but I'll be here to entertain you! You can call me 'Uncle Mic'! What's your name?"_

 _"Shiragiku," she replied before pointing to Aizawa innocently. "But Eraserhead only calls me 'kid'..."_

 _"What? Man, he really is terrible at coming up with names," the man sighed loudly before bending down and peering into her ruby eyes, his thumb jutting towards the droopy eyed man in the background. "This guys gonna train you to be a hero, right? Come to your Uncle Mic for hero name suggestions! I was the one who gave him 'Eraserhead'!"_

 _She blanched slightly._ _Did she want really to be named along the lines of "Eraserhead"? She thinks not._

 _"By the way, what's your Quirk kiddo?"_

 _Instead of telling him, she let the white dial in her right eye spin. There was a hint of excitement in her eyes. It took a few days to get used to her Quirk, but she found it extremely fun to play with. "I increased your good luck," she told him with a small tap on his shoulder.  
_

 _Present Mic raised his blonde brows and a few seconds passed with him wondering what was going to happen. Then, his phone beeped and he took it out to look at the notification. "Oh my!" he pointed to the screen excitedly, "Did you do this? My radio show rating just went up by 1%! Try the other eye now!"  
_

 _She allowed her left eye to do the same with the black dial. Immediately, a cockroach flew out and landed on the man's shoe, causing him to jump up and scream in terror.  
_

 _"WHAT IN THE_ _—_ _! ERASERHEAD! H-HELP!"_

 _Aizawa watched with slight amusement as the cockroach crawled up higher and the man desperately tried to shake it off his leg. He set his hand on top of the girl's head, causing her to look up at him._

 _"Don't use your Quirk so irrationally," he reprimanded, but a small grin made its way to his usually frowning face for the first time. "Though Mic brought this upon himself. I'll let it slide this time, ki—" he paused for a moment. He supposed it was weird to call her just **kid** all the time. She had a name, after all. _

_"Shiragiku's a mouthful. I'll just call you Shiro."_

 _The girl thought it over with a tilt of her little head. **Shiro...** It sounded rather nice, in her opinion._

 _"...Okay!"_

* * *

 **Sorry for the late update! I've been busy with exams and other miscellaneous things in college. Thank you those who always leave a review - it makes me really happy when I read them and I get motivated to write more. I really love this story and would love it if I can get some feedback. Thanks :)**


	8. Another Day, Another Battle

**Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _another day, another battle_

.

.

.

Another sigh left Shiro's lips as she stood in front of the large classroom door.

Because of the villain attack on USJ, U.A. classes were canceled for Thursday and set to resume on Friday. For Shiro, the one-day rest period was much needed since Recovery Girl wasn't able to completely heal all of her injuries from the low amount of stamina she had left after attempting to rewrite Nomu's existence. While all of her nerves and broken bones were fixed, her left arm was still wrapped in light bandages to let the superficial skin wounds heal, and on her back were two particularly nasty bruises she got from being slammed harshly on an uneven boulder.

However, none of her injuries amounted to what she heard Aizawa sustained from the attack. She hadn't even been able to see the man since he and Thirteen were in the hospital's intensive care unit, and the uncertainty of Aizawa's health was unnerving her. Present Mic had reassured her that everything was alright, but the heavy feeling in her heart remained.

She could hear the students chatting about the news last night that covered the USJ incident from behind the door. Everyone seemed to be fine, and she was glad that at least no one else got hurt. Opening the door, she was suddenly met with stunned silence as her classmates stopped their conversations to look at her.

"...Hello," she blinked, unsure of what to say.

They then rushed up and surrounded her with wide eyes and relieved gazes.

"Shiro-chan!" Kirishima was the first to speak. One eye was shining with an unshed tear as he looked at her with pure respect. "I heard about your bravery against those strong villains! So manly!"

"And your injuries! Are you really okay to resume class so fast?" Hagakure added. Even though she couldn't see the invisible girl's expression, Shiro understood her worry. Next to the girl, Ojiro was looking at her with a sense of consolation.

"We were all so worried..."

"Your arm!" Uraraka also voiced from the front of the crowd, her large eyes staring at the bandages on Shiro's left arm. "Recovery Girl couldn't heal you all the way? Deku-kun said something about stamina..."

"It's just a scratch," Shiro reassured. It really was, since the wound didn't hurt. What _did_ hurt were the bruises on her back, and they were the reason why she couldn't wear her backpack and had to instead carry it. Uraraka only nodded thankfully and suddenly went in for a hug.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay!" she exclaimed happily as pain jolted through Shiro's body from the pressure on her back, but she bit her lip and shakily gave the girl a nod of thanks. Most of them were oblivious to it, but two pairs of eyes saw through her obvious facade of trying to conceal her pain. From his seat, Todoroki suddenly spoke up.

"We should give her some space to get to her seat. Homeroom is starting soon."

Shiro was surprised at the cold male's quick save, but she was glad as Uraraka released her and the rest went back to their seats. She trudged over to her seat between Kirishima and Midoriya.

"Shiro-chan, if you need anything, just tell me!" Kirishima declared with great spirit. "Bakugou and I will be your bodyguards!"

"Who fucking said anything about doing that for Pigtails, you hedgehog hair!" the blonde responded with a scowl. Though, when his eyes met Shiro's, he immediately snapped his head away. "Tch."

"It's okay, Kirishima-san," Shiro lightly tapped the redhead's arm since he looked irritated at the insulting name. He was visibly surprised at the contact, but he didn't dislike the small tingle of electricity that ran up his arm. "I can manage on my own," she affirmed before sitting down.

On her other side, Midoriya noticed that the aura around her was different somehow. He had been sure that she would've said something back to Bakugou because of his insults, but she had completely disregarded it. He felt the girl wasn't actually _feeling_ okay.

"Shiro-san," he started to say, "Are you—"

"Everyone! Morning homeroom is about to start!" Iida rushed into the classroom with his arms spread like a referee coaching a game. "Stop talking and take your seats!"

Everyone stared at the class president with skeptism. Actually, they were all in their seats _except_ him. Quickly realizing the fact as well, Iida fell into his seat with a mix of defeat and disbelief.

"Don't worry about it, Iida-kun!" Uraraka tried cheering him up, a sympathetic grin on her face.

"Hey, who do you think's gonna teach homeroom today?" Mina asked Tsuyu, causing a wave of curious chatter from the rest of the class. The last they heard, their homeroom teacher was in no condition to resume teaching. They wondered who would be replacing Aizawa for the time being.

Amongst the chatter, Kaminari tilted his head back to Shiro, "Hey Shiro-chan, do you know?"

Shiro stiffened. "Actually, I..." she trailed off, her voice getting uncharacteristically soft. Midoriya could tell then that _this_ was what's bothering her. Just then, the door the their classroom slid opened again and their attention all drew to who was standing at the door.

"Morning," the greeting was slightly muffled through the bandages that covered up the man's entire face.

" _Aizawa-sensei?!_ You're back too soon!"

"He's too much of a pro!"

 _He's okay..._ Shiro's eyes softened. _He's really okay!_

Through the shouts of surprise, her voice was drowned but she didn't mind one bit. "Eraserhead..." she looked at the bandaged hero as he wobbled up towards the podium with absolute relief. "I'm glad you're okay..."

Midoriya didn't know if Aizawa's condition could really be categorized as "okay", but he saw that the ruby eyed girl was slowly returning to her normal self from just the sight of the hero. He understood her completely, because that was exactly how he felt when All Might turned out to be okay after overexerting his One For All on Nomu.

 _Aizawa-sensei is to Shiro-san as All Might is to me,_ he thought to himself. _It's_ _no_ _wonder_ _she_ _was_ _worried_ _until_ _now_.

"Don't concern yourselves with my well-being," Aizawa's voice cut through the onslaught of exclaims. "More importantly, the fight's not yet over."

At the mention of a fight, the class looked at each other critically. Another fight? Was there information on another villain attack?

The hero's eyes narrowed seriously.

"The U.A. sports festival is drawing near."

* * *

After Cementoss's fourth period Modern Literature, the students were free to go on break for lunch. Though, many of them were still on a high about the upcoming sports festival in two week's time.

 _Everyone wants to be scouted by the best Pro Heroes,_ Shiro thought idly. _And we only get three chances at U.A._

Joining a famous hero agency not only gives you experience, but more popularity as well. She didn't care too much about the second reason, but she didn't want to miss the opportunity to be scouted by any of the top 10, either. They were at the top for a reason, and she desperately wanted to learn from them. While training with Aizawa greatly increased her technique throughout the years, she lacked _strength_. The USJ attack was just the beginning of what heroes encounter in their lifetime, and Shiro didn't want to end up needing to rely on others because of her own shortcomings.

 _I'll grow stronger so that I can protect Eraserhead and everyone I care about._

"Aisaka-chan, Ojiro-kun, I'm getting pumped!" Hagakure motioned with her invisible hands. Both of them reckoned that she must be pumping her fists. "I need to stand out at the sports festival!"

"Y-Yeah," Ojiro replied with a hint of hesitance. He didn't know how to break it to the girl. "But the pros might not notice you unless you try really hard..."

"To stand out, huh..." Shiro mumbled and felt herself getting slightly nervous. "In order to do that, I have to be more like..." she found her words trail off as she and Ojiro watched Aoyama unrestrainedly show off his _totally dazzling_ personality to a skittish Koda.

"I stand out just by standing still. Oh dear," he sighed loudly, batting his eyelashes. "The scouts won't be abe to stop looking at me, right?"

Silence.

 _"Right?"_

Frantic nodding.

They all felt for the shy male. It was hard to stop Aoyama once he starts one of his long and flamboyant self-praises, and Koda was the least likely person in the entire class to be able to fend the blonde off.

Turning his attention back to Shiro's previous remark, however, Ojiro gave her a small, encouraging smile.

"In any case, I think you'll be able to stand out, Aisaka-san. Your fighting style is very eye-catching," he revealed, referring back to the combat training when she was able to incorporate the properties of other people's Quirks into her own combat. That, and she was quick thinking. "So you don't have to be more like anyone... Just be yourself. And you too, Hagakure-san," he looked at the invisible girl as well. "Let's do our best at the sports festival."

Hagakure got even more pumped with his words and expressed her excitement with cheers. Shiro nodded along with a smile. "Yeah, let's—"

 _"Shiro-chan,"_ Uraraka suddenly appeared behind her with a determinedly dark glint in her usually carefree and round eyes. Her voice had lowered a few octaves, too. The girl pumped her fist in the air. "I'm gonna do my best!"

Shiro blinked at the sudden change of personality, "Ah... Uraraka-san...?" she questioned, but the girl had already turned to a few others with the same gesture.

"Everyone, I'm gonna do my best!"

"Yeah!" Midoriya, Iida, Mina, and Tsuyu shouted back with enthusiasm as she then faced Sato, Sero, Kirishima, and Tokoyami.

"I'm gonna do my _best!_ "

"Y-Yeah..."

 _I wonder what's up with her,_ Shiro mused. Everyone was excited for the sports festival for their own reasons, sure, but Uraraka was on another level. Her character was all over the place...

* * *

"...our reasons for becoming a Pro Hero?"

Midoriya nodded as he looked at Iida and Uraraka. Along with Shiro, they were all heading down to the lunch room. "I kind of got Shiro-san's reason from her explanation about Aizawa-sensei already, but I'm curious to learn about you guys, too!"

"Well..." Iida began first by propping up his glasses. "My family has been heroes for generations... Have you heard of the Turbo Hero: Ingenium?"

"Of course!" Midoriya exclaimed excitedly. He knew about most, if not all, of the registered Pro Heroes! "He's a really popular hero who has 65 sidekicks working at his Tokyo agency! Wait, don't tell me..."

At the mention, the bespectacled male's eyes sparkled proudly. "He is my elder brother!" he declared loudly. His shoulders shook slightly as he continued, "He is a likable hero who honors the rules and leads people. I set my sights on being a hero because I want to be like my brother!"

"That's amazing, Iida-kun!"

"As expected of our class president," Shiro commented, causing the male to be filled with another wave of pride. "No wonder you're good at leading people, Iida-san. Ingenium is a good role model."

"Yeah! Compared to Iida-kun's reason..." Uraraka chimed in with a softer mumble. "Mine is such an unwholesome reason..."

"Eh? Why is that?" Midoriya blinked. He wondered why the girl was looking slightly embarrassed as she rubbed the back of her head.

"To boil it down simply... I want to become a hero for the money," she waved her hands around shamefully. "Sorry! You guys have such admirable motivations, it's embarrassing to talk about mine..."

"Why?" Iida was in full Iida-and-hand-motions mode. "How is having a goal to support your livelihood not admirable?"

"It's not a bad thing," Shiro agreed as the curly haired male besides her nodded as well. "I think it would be pretty irrational to ignore how much Pro Heroes make."

 _Shiro-san, you're sounding a lot like Aizawa-sensei..._ Midoriya thought exasperatedly before his green eyes landed on the other girl again. "Right. But it's unexpected," he said.

Uraraka sighed.

"My family owns a construction company, but we haven't gotten any work at all, so we're flat broke. This isn't really something to tell other people, though..."

"Construction...?"

"With her Quirk, if she gets licensed, then it'd bring costs way down, right?"

"Yeah, she could make any raw material float. They wouldn't need any heavy equipment!"

At their idle thoughts, Uraraka nodded her head intensely in agreement. "Right?! That's what I told my dad when I was little! But..." she pouted again. "He said he'd rather I achieve my own dreams when I grow up. Part of my dream _is_ to help them, though... So I'll definitely become a hero and make money and let my parents take it easy!"

The declaration made all three of them feel a new kind of appreciation for the rosy cheeked girl. Contrary to her belief, her reasoning was _indeed_ admirable.

"Bravo, Uraraka-kun! Bravo!"

Iida raised both of his hands to clap for her, mirroring what the rest of them were thinking. It made her smile and blush, and her confidence returned.

A deep throated chuckle suddenly sounded from the corner of the hallway, putting a pause to the reassuring closure as they glanced at the source. All Might rounded the corner and pointed to Midoriya with his usual cheerfulness, "Young Midoriya is right here!"

"A-All Might?" the boy widened his eyes along with his friends. "What's the matter?"

"Lunch!" All Might exclaimed before his posture turned meek, almost like a shy schoolgirl. "Wanna eat together?"

Midoriya looked at the three of them briefly for permission; Uraraka was too busy trying to recover from the hilarity to even say anything, but Iida and Shiro nodded for him to go ahead. He smiled at them before following behind the hero.

 _Midoriya seems really close with All Might..._ Shiro watched the boy go before leaving with the other two for the lunch room. She felt that the hero seemed too much like a mentor to him, or at least favored him greatly. But with the similarity of their Quirks, she guessed it was probably to be expected.

"I wonder what he wanted with Deku-kun," Uraraka wondered as they stood in line for food. Iida, naturally, had a theory.

"I heard that when All Might was attacked by villains during the USJ incident, he rushed out alone to help. Perhaps it's about that? Also..."

 _Did that happen?_ Shiro thought to herself as the rest of Iida's sentence carried off in her mind. She wasn't sure of anything that happened after All Might came to save them, since she passed out shortly after she got carried away. _Wait, that reminds me_...

"Um, Iida-san, Uraraka-san... If you don't mind, I won't be sitting with you guys today."

"Eh?" the rosy cheeked girl pouted in question. Iida also gave her a look of puzzlement.

"Why is that, Shiro-kun?"

She reassured that it wasn't because she didn't like their company, but rather... "I just remembered something that I have to do," she revealed.

* * *

"Are you always frowning, or is that just your normal face?"

Todoroki looked up at the girl who set a tray of food down across from him before sitting down herself. "Aisaka," he greeted, a small smirk making its way to his lips. "I could say the same for you, most of the time."

Her face scrunched slightly at the accusation as she pouted. "It's probably because I'm around too many people who always look like they hate life..." she muttered to herself seriously, referring to a certain homeroom teacher and explosive blonde. Bringing her attention back to the male, she realized that he was staring at her curiously with those heterochromatic eyes. "What?" she wondered aloud, breaking his stare.

"Nothing," he said, going back at his bowl of soba. "You usually sit with Midoriya and the others."

"Oh," Shiro blinked. She was surprised that he paid enough attention to even know that. He had always seemed so aloof. "Yeah, but Midoriya-san's having lunch with All Might today... And I wanted to come talk to you about the USJ incident. It pains me to say this, but I really was too reckless... So thanks for sticking with me, Todoroki-san."

 _Midoriya's with All Might?_ He wondered with a frown before turning attention back to the girl. "Don't mention it. It's good that you understand and you're healing well."

He had said it with his normal tone of coldness, but she felt that there was a hint of concern in his voice as well. Smiling, silence passed between them as they started eating. Todoroki was still such a mystery to her; he was cool-headed and meticulous. He was extremely strong, too, which made Shiro wonder what kind of training he must've went through to be _this_ good.

"Todoroki-san," she asked, mirroring Midoriya's curiosity. "What made you want to become a hero?"

Todoroki looked surprised at her question, though it was quickly replaced with a bitter expression. "Have you ever heard of Quirk marriages?" he asked as Shiro frowned slightly and shook her head.

"It's become a problem for the second and third generation after superpowers appeared. Choosing a spouse based only on strengthening your own Quirk and passing onto your children, forcing people into marriage. It's the old-fashioned way of thinking brought about by a lack of ethics. My father..." his eyes darkened even more as he mentioned the man. "He has the money and the accomplishments, so it was easy for him to win over my mother's relatives and get ahold of my mother's Quirk. He is trying to fulfill his own desire by raising me to be a hero to surpass All Might."

 _That's... Terrible,_ she thought critically. Granted, her previous family life probably wasn't great either, but it wasn't like she remember any of it before being taken in by Aizawa. "That can't be your reason to be a hero, though... To surpass All Might for your father?"

"Of course not. I won't become the tool of a _scum_ like that," he scowled, gritting his teeth. It was the first time Shiro's ever seen him become this visibly upset by something. His hand came up to cover the burn mark around his left eye. "In my memories, my mother is always crying. 'Your left side is unsightly,' my mother said as she poured boiling water on me... That's why I will never use my left side to fight. I'll become a hero greater than All Might by rejecting my father completely, and I intend to start by winning the sports festival."

 _So that's what's driving Todoroki for the sports festival,_ she thought. It was shocking to hear the travesty of Quirk marriages... And to know that the male and his mentioned mother have gone through a lot of hardships because of it, especially since he had a father like that. It wasn't even pity that she felt for him... It was anger.

And there was another concern—no doubt Todoroki would be stronger with a double-whammy Quirk like his... But, if he choose to only use one side, it's almost like he was willingly limiting himself.

 _But maybe it's not my business..._

It was surprising that the male even opened up to her about something so personal; it gave her a warm feeling of acceptance. She was never good at consoling people, but she figured that wasn't what Todoroki wanted anyway.

"Winning the sports festival, huh?" she said instead. A challengining smile appeared on her face as she looked at Todoroki. "I guess that makes the two of us, Todoroki-san."

* * *

Just on the other side of the booth, separated by a short slab of wall and plants, Bakugou sat with Kirishima as the male went on talking about whatever the hell he was talking about to Tape Arms (Bakugou forgot his name).

Because the topic on his side was uninteresting as ever, he had instead heard every word of the conversation from the other side. Scarfing down his food with his usual display of wrath, his red eyes were narrowed with serious conviction.

He was surprised at first that the two on the other side sounded close... But it didn't matter. Whether it was Deku or Pigtails or that ice guy, _he_ was going to beat all of them and win the sports festival himself.

* * *

The clock ticked 3:20 PM, signaling the end of the school day. Shiro and the others all got ready to leave when sliding open the door revealed a mass of first-year students crowding before them with curious eyes. There were even people from U.A.'s other courses coming to check them out!

"Wh-What's going on?!" Uraraka exclaimed.

"What business do you have with class 1-A?" Iida added, his hand jutting out with inquiry.

Mineta, with his short height, tried to look past the crowd of people. "We can't get out! What'd you come here for, anyway?" He wasn't trying all that hard though, since standing behind Shiro gave him a nice view of—

"They're scouting out the enemy, small fry," Bakugou replied as his hand pushed the smaller male's face the other way. "We're the ones who made it out of the villains' attack. They probably wanna check us out before the sports festival," he stopped in front of the crowd, just besides Shiro, and gave them a hard glare. "There's no point in doing stuff like that. Out of my way, you two-bit extras!"

Behind him, his classmates' jaws dropped at his blatant insult.

"I came to see what the famous class A-1 was like, but you seem pretty arrogant," a voice said from within the crowd before a head of purple became visible as the male stepped his way to the front. "Are all the students in the hero course like this? Seeing something like this makes me disillusioned..." his words trailed off slightly when his baggy eyes made contact with the girl besides Bakugou in recognition.

Shiro immediately recognized him as well. After all, he was the person she took a large slab of wall to her shoulder for! He had made it to U.A. after all, though it seemed like he was admitted in a different course. _What's his name again?_ "Shinso-san...?" she tilted her head in question. He seemed bewildered that she knew his name.

"You _know_ this side character?" Bakugou raised his brows besides her, already pretty irritated that the mob was blocking his way. "Then tell him to get this mob outta here."

"Stop being so rude," Shiro snapped back with a brow raise of her own. "You gotta get that attitude fixed."

"Ha? As if I'd let _you_ order me around!"

At their banter, Shinso broke out of his bewilderment and rubbed the back of his head with a cynical stare.

"'Side character'? There are quite a few people who enrolled in general studies or other courses because they didn't make it into the hero course. Did you know that?" he inquired at Bakugou, who scoffed in response. "The school has left those of us a chance. Depending on the results of the sports festival, they'll consider our transfer into the hero course. And it seems they may also transfer people out... Rather than 'scouting out the enemy', I, at least, came to say that even if you're in the hero course, if you get too carried away, I'll sweep your feet out from under you. I came with a declaration of war."

 _He's rather bold,_ Shiro widened her eyes slightly. He made her realize that it wasn't just about standing out at the festival for Pro Hero agencies to notice them; this was a test from the U.A. administration for the students to show why they _deserve_ a spot in the hero course.

"Hey! Hey! HEY!"

Another voice shouted from behind the tall purple haired male. The day was just full of surprises, since Shiro realized that she's seen this person before as well, and he was still as fired-up as the first time.

"I'm from class 1-B next door! I heard you fought against villains, so I came to hear 'bout it! Don't get so full of yourself!" he berated boldly. "It'll be embarrassing if you're just all bark and no bite durin' the real fight—are you ignorin' me?!"

The male looked pissed that Bakugou was indeed ignoring him. He waved his arms around, causing the students in front of him to shuffle forward in order to avoid getting hit accidentally. Shiro scooted sideways as someone tumbled forward, but she forgot all about the bruises on her back and the person's shoulder came increasingly close to making contact.

"Watch it!" Bakugou warned, his arm shooting out to stop the student from falling and effectively preventing him from jabbing into Shiro's injury as well. His warning also created a small gap as the students regarded him warily.

"Wait a minute, Bakugou!" Kirishima called after him. "What're you gonna do about this? It's your fault that everyone's hating on us!"

"It doesn't matter."

"Ha?!"

"It doesn't matter as long as you rise to the top," he finished off as he used a hand to guide Shiro forward since she was in front of him and he wanted to leave. "Oi, hurry up so I can get out of here."

"Don't touch me," Shiro clipped, eyes twitching at his demand. However, she did move forward as told.

If one were to pay attention, it might've even looked like the blonde was guarding her from the large crowd. But for the girl, this wasn't the time to insinuate about such trivial things. Students from class 1-B and the other courses have made their statements, and like Shinso said, it was a declaration of war against class 1-A.

She needed to prepare herself in these short two weeks. _But first..._

* * *

"ERASERHEAAAD—!"

The hero raised his bandaged arm in a "stop" motion at the girl who was running up to him after he'd walked into the house. She stopped running, but that didn't prevent her from getting closer to him. From the slits between the bandages on his face, he caught sight of her quavering lips and tears that were threatening to spill out of her ruby eyes.

"Your worry over my well-being is unnecessary," he said as the girl lowered her head with a sniffle. He couldn't see her face this way, but it didn't take much to know that she was really upset.

"I don't care," she mumbled. "They wouldn't let me visit you in the hospital so I thought you were _dying!_ I was—I was so worried..."

"Imagine how I felt when Mic told me about you," he said, but it was so low that it she didn't hear him through her own ramblings. Sighing, he reached out slightly and poked the girl's forehead with the tip of his arm cast to make her look at him. "This is the life of a Pro Hero. You're aspiring to go pro, aren't you?"

She nodded while wiping the corner of her eye.

"Then time is limited," he told her seriously. "I can't help you in this condition, but was decided even before the USJ attack that you will be training for the sports festival on your own like the rest of the students. I will not tolerate you slacking off on your preparations. If you understand the urgency of this event, then stop worrying over unimportant things and focus on what's important."

 _But... **You** are important to me..._ Shiro pouted sadly. He always thought her emotions were too irrational, but she felt he was the irrational one to always disregard his well-being. She couldn't understand where the hero was coming from in that sense... However, she supposed that it was fine for now since he was okay. "Got it..." she slowly accepted and allowed a small fire to return to her eyes. "I won't let you down."

Nodding at her compliance, Aizawa moved to walk past the girl. He paused briefly with his back to her. "Shiro."

"Yeah?"

"Thank you," he said with an outline of a smile through his bandages. "I appreciate your concern."

* * *

 **I'm baaaaaack! Sophomore year just ended and I'm happy to say that I pulled through with all A's this semester :') I hope you guys are doing/did well in your classes as well!**


	9. Show Me

**Edited 9/17/19 - just tweaked some things that was said during the meeting with Detective Tsukauchi :)**

 **Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _show me_

.

.

.

"Aizawa-kun!" All Might said as the bandaged man walked into the conference room and took a seat. A few of the Pro Heroes involved in the USJ incident were gathered in this meeting to go over new information. "You're still recovering and already came back to teach today. You don't have to push yourself so hard."

"I'm fine," the hero merely grunted and trained his eyes on Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa. "More importantly, how is the investigation with the 'League of Villains' going?"

The detective cleared his throat with acknowledgement and scanned over the paperwork in his hands. "The police investigated and there does not appear to be anyone registered with the name Shigaraki in his 20s or 30s with a Quirk that lets him disintegrate whatever he touches. It's the same with the villain called Kurogiri with the Warp Gate. They are probably not citizens and are using false names," he revealed. "In other words, they are people with unregistered Quirks who are part of society's underbelly."

"You mean we still don't know anything..." Vlad King furrowed his brows.

"We must hurry," Snipe added. "I managed to inflict a few gun wounds on their ringleader Shigaraki, but once he heals, they'll definitely try again. It'll be a pain."

"Their ringleader, huh?"

"What is it, All Might?" Principal Nezu asked when he saw the critical look on the number one hero's face at the mention of Shigaraki.

"It was a bold attack that normal people wouldn't carry out even if they thought of it. To suddenly go on with his wild statements like that... Although he didn't reveal his own Quirk to me, he bragged about that Nomu's Quirk. And when things didn't go the way he wanted, he was visibly upset. Well, the incident with the Quirk was to also force my hand, but..."

Nezu smiled, "Even so, it was foolish to throw away the advantage of having unknown Quirks when fighting against heroes."

"He made immature, wild statements with a straight face. He bragged about his possessions. He thought everything would simply go his way. Adding that to what I saw of him when he carried out the attack, the picture I get of Shigaraki is..." All Might narrowed his eyes. "Someone who hasn't gotten rid of his childish sense of omnipotence—a man-child."

"A child with power?" Vlad King grunted worriedly.

"Could it be that he never received the Quirk counseling every child gets in elementary school?" Midnight wondered.

"But what does that have to do with anything?" Snipe asked.

"There were 72 villains arrested the other day at USJ. They were all small-timers that lurked in back alleys, but the problem is how they all agreed with that man-child and followed him," Tsukauchi answered pointedly. "In the current environment saturated with heroes, villainous people who have been oppressed may be drawn to that kind of simple-minded evil."

"I can't disagree with that, but I think there's more to Shigaraki's simple mind than he's showing us," Aizawa finally piped up from his silence. "He has child-like tendencies but his instincts are sharp. He's more dangerous than just a simple villain."

"Well, it's thanks to you heroes that we are able to devote ourselves to our investigation. We'll expand our search network and continue to assist in arresting the perpetrators," Tsukauchi replied. "Someone who can have no qualms about killing needs to be detained... As of right now, we need to do everything in our power to keep the students at U.A. safe."

While the heroes all nodded in agreement, Vlad King turned to look at All Might with a knowing stare at his emaciated form. "It won't be easy if they somehow produce more of those Nomu things to target All Might. The USJ incident left two students critically harmed; if we're not careful next time, who knows how many more there will be," he said.

All Might clenched his fist with a nod. "Because of my situation, Young Midoriya and Young Aisaka were injured while trying to save the others. I will not allow this to happen next time, no matter what."

"Aisaka... That's Eraserhead's adopted child, isn't she?" Vlad King faced the bandaged hero. "From what I could gather from your students that day, she managed to make the Nomu creature disappear briefly. What kind of power does that child hold?"

"Her Quirk can alter probability as well as reality," Aizawa said. "It's the reason why she was handed to me to mentor. Otherwise, there are plenty of people in the world who don't know what to do with their Quirks and thus fall down a villainous path. "

"The ability to alter reality, though..." Midnight mused. "You mean that she can even alter things that already happened?"

Aizawa nodded.

"Her Quirk has potential to save the future," Tsukauchi chimed when realization hit him. "Isn't it possible for her to revert back All Might's health?"

 _"No."_ Aizawa and All Might immediately said at the same time. Though, it wasn't because of the notion being impossible; the truth was they didn't know what the extent of her power is really capable of. However, if fighting the Nomu was any indication of what would happen if she tried to use her Quirk on someone so powerful—and All Might being one of the most powerful man on earth—they didn't want to risk it.

"There is no guarentee that it would work, but there is a guarentee that it _will_ kill her. I won't allow it," Aizawa replied firmly as the number one hero besides him agreed with a frown.

"And neither will I. As much as I loathe this form where I can only be a hero for mere hours, I have accepted it and will do the best that I can to service this world. I will not allow Young Aisaka to risk her life from the limitations of her Quirk. My injury from All For One was unavoidable... The young heroes at U.A. _are_ the future, and we are here to guide them, not take it away from them."

"Sorry," the detective apologized with a remorseful smile. "That was just wishful thinking on my part."

"Tsukauchi-kun's just looking out for me, I know," All Might grinned. "My emaciated form is not something I want to show our students. For as long as I can, I must maintain as their Symbol of Peace and teach them. Besides, Aizawa-kun will have our heads if anything happens to Young Aisaka again."

"That girl's really melted your cold heart during these years, huh?" Midnight chuckled. Being classmates with the Erasure Hero throughout their U.A. days, she knew how detached and unsympathetic he was. "It's probably a good thing for you."

Aizawa neither agreed or disagreed with her comment, but it didn't a genius for the rest to figure out that Shiro gave the hero more reason to live. As the conference came to an end, the Pro Heroes all settled out with similar feelings.

No matter what, what was important was the safety of the world's future heroes. Especially with the sports festival coming up so quickly, it was critical that they be more careful.

* * *

For the next two weeks, the students of class 1-A all trained hard for their preparation of the sports festival. U.A. had the perfect grounds to train, whether it was for endurance, muscle-building, or Quirk strengthening. Many of them trained alone after classes let out, but they often crossed paths during passing or end up using the same facility...

The Replica City District was a popular place for students to go train because there were multiple grounds and a large amount of space. By chance, Shiro had bumped into both Midoriya and Ojiro at the same battle ground, and they had decided to train together with working on balance and reach. In other words, today was parkour.

Shiro, while using a protruding pipe on the side of a building to swing herself forward, saw Midoriya and she could see that he had a few scrapes on his arms. The male was actually keeping up pretty well without his Quirk, which was impressive. Landing on her feet, she noticed that the sun was low on the horizon and realized that they've been training for a while since they first bumped into each other. Everyone was getting tired, herself included.

"Break?" Ojiro asked as he slowed down, landing on the middle of a rooftop. Shiro gave him a thumbs up.

Seeing that his two classmates had stopped, Midoriya leaped across the large distance between the two buildings to get to them but lost his balance. Gripping onto a nearby bar at the last second, he narrowly caught himself. Shiro's head peeked out from above the rooftop with worry in her eyes.

"Midoriya-san! Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah," he gulped as Ojiro used his tail to assist him up. This was a lot harder than he had anticipated, and since he couldn't use his Quirk lest he hurt himself, he was forced to do the best he could with keeping up. Ojiro's tail gave him added jump power as well as balance, while Shiro was able to increase her chances of landing safely along with her natural agility. "You guys are amazing, though! I could barely keep up..."

"Considering that my Quirk gives me an advantage, you're not too bad either, Midoriya-san," Ojiro insisted with a gentle smile. Shiro nodded in agreement.

"I was surprised, actually. It looked like you were channeling in your all."

"T-Thank you...!" Midoriya exclaimed, looking happy and embarrassed at the same time. "It was just that I remembered how I felt back at the beach park with Al— _I mean!_ Yeah!"

They blinked at how fast he changed what he was going to say, but they merely shrugged it off. "I know we're training to cover all of the basics, but... I wonder what events we'll be participating in?" Ojiro asked instead.

"Apparently it changes every year," Shiro stated. "So it's hard to predict it."

"Shiro-san's Quirk can technically make a certain event more likely, right?" Midoriya suddenly wondered aloud.

"Oh... That's true..." she mumbled at the thought, her eyes displaying serious consideration. The male grew enthusiastic at the range of her ability.

"That would be so handy!"

"Now that I think about it, I could use it to pick a favorable event..."

"Amazing!"

Ojiro looked slightly perturbed as they continued to devise all of the possibilities. "But guys..." he scratched the side of his cheek as they stared at him in question, "As much as I'd like to choose events that complement my strengths, too, it would be unfair to the others... We should win with dignity."

Midoriya immediately broke out in apology for making the male feel uncomfortable with the conversation, and Shiro also assured him that she wasn't actually going to do it since it wasn't possible without consequences and she wanted to win fair and square, too. However, a small smile was present on her face from knowing that her tailed friend was so noble with his principles.

 _Ojiro is such a good person,_ she thought.

[]

Walking into the forest to start her training session later that week, Shiro stepped on a twig which caused a few rabbits and squirrels that had curiously gathered near a large tree to disperse. She could see a little bit of a triangular head sticking out from behind the tree, and upon closer inspection, it was revealed to be her classmate Koda Koji.

"Koda-san," she greeted. "Are you training here today?"

The shy male looked both surprised and nervous to see her, but he nodded bashfully.

 _He really doesn't talk much..._

Shiro realized that she didn't know Koda at all other than the fact that he was quiet. He was strong in terms of muscle mass and from the Grip Strength Test weeks ago, but since he never really displayed his Quirk during any of the hero basic trainings, she didn't even know what his Quirk was.

"Those little animals back there..." she inquired with wonder. "How did you get them to come so close to you? They usually run away when they see me... Especially when I'm training."

At her question, Koda motioned for her to watch as he opened his mouth. She blinked with bewilderment as no words came out, but soon enough, a group of rabbits came back out of hiding and hopped over to the male.

 _Koda Koji, Quirk: Animal Voice._

Impressed, she bent down and tried to pet one. It was calm even under her touch. "This is pretty cool," she turned to the male with a small grin. "Does it work with any kind of animal?"

Koda nodded.

"And you can command them to do whatever you want?"

Another nod.

Shiro suddenly had a vision of Koda commanding a group of rabbits to attack someone and her brows shot up. As if sensing what she was thinking, Koda shook his head and waved his hand in denial.

"Oh, sorry!" she apologized, though she was not entirely sure what for. He grew even more nervous at her apology and repeatedly bowed his head, making Shiro even more confused.

[]

 _Splash!_

"Tsuyu-san, you're always at the pool," Shiro remarked as the frog-like girl jumped out with her tongue wrapped around the mechanical fish she was searching for in the water. Shiro had been passing through the pool room whenever she needed to get to U.A.'s main gym. "Frog-Form is such a nice Quirk. It gives you the best of both worlds."

Tsuyu tipped her finger against her mouth and nodded, "On land, I can jump high and stick to walls. I can also stick my tongue out up to about 20 meters. I'm weaker in hotter climates, but wetter climates are my speciality. Shiro-chan, you have a probability changing Quirk... Does it work in water?"

"I've never really tried," Shiro said honestly. "But I think if I was in an ocean, I can raise the probability of large tidal waves, and as long as there's at least 1% chance that a tsunami can happen during a specific time, I can even make that happen at a higher probability. It'll take a lot of energy, though, since a tsunami is pretty large-scale."

"Would you hurt yourself in the process?" Tsuyu stared at her with those blank, black irises that was hard to decipher emotion from. "During the USJ attack, when you used your Quirk on that villain... Your Quirk isn't exactly like Midoriya-chan's, but you can also get really hurt from it, right?"

"Ah, that..." Shiro blinked and nodded. "My reality rewrite ability takes power from both of my eyes, and it's capable of taking what's true about an object or person and changing it to what _I_ want to be true about it... Kind of like playing 'creator' in a sense, so it takes a lot of power. It's true that trying to change the reality of something beyond my capabilities can potentially kill me though..." she trailed off and simply offered the girl an appreciative smile for her concern. She didn't want to spoil the mood. "But don't worry, I can manage to change less extreme weather conditions a few times without any trouble since I'm just increasing or decreasing the chances of it."

"That's good to hear. We were all worried," the frog-like girl said before jumping back into the pool to resume her training. Before she submerged herself underwater, she added, "Todoroki-chan and Bakugou-chan almost got into a fight over you."

"Eh...?!"

[]

The materials in Shiro's arms clanked as they rubbed against each other; she was on her way to train in the forest area behind U.A. again. Suddenly, a giant explosion blasted somewhere at her right, the force strong enough to blow broken branches and rubble her way.

 _Bakugou,_ she immediately thought. Once the smoke cleared, she could see the blonde standing in the middle of the destroyed area, a drop of sweat trailing down the side of his face. When he turned to her direction, the grin on his face turned down.

"Oi, this is my turf," he growled as her brows shot up.

"Last I checked, this was U.A. property."

"Well I'm fucking training here."

"And I am too," she insisted before dropping the darts and throwing weapons on the ground in a huff. "Well, _was_. You nearly destroyed all of the trees in this half of the forest and now I can't practice my target training."

He smirked with triumph. She was right; he blasted most of the trees here to the ground already, and traveling further into the forest would require trekking over all of the fallen debris. Suddenly, he got an idea. "Why don't you just fight me?"

"I'd rather go train instead of wasting my time fulfilling your weird desire to fight everyone on this earth," she snorted before turning away. "I think I saw Hagakure-san at the gym... Maybe I'll go there instead."

Bakugou stomped over the fallen debris and grabbed her arm. "That's what I meant, dumbass," he sneered. "Train with me."

"You just want to fight me. You know we can't use our Quirks to fight each other unsupervised, right?" she retorted with the same amount of bite to her words. "Dumbass."

" _What the fuck_ did you just—"

"But if you want to actually train with me at the gym, then okay," she continued, cutting him off. Bakugou gritted his teeth with a look of contempt, but after staring into her serious and unblinking ruby eyes, he scoffed.

"Fine," he said and retracted his hand from her arm. "You still owe me a fight."

"Yeah, yeah," Shiro rolled her eyes as they started walking. He was still explosive around her, but dare she say that she's gotten better at calming him down. It was fun to rile him up sometimes, even if he did the same to her.

"By the way, why is your hand sweaty as hell?"

"That's _obviously_ because it's what ignites my fucking Quirk, dumbass."

"...Prickhead."

"Heh."

* * *

Two weeks of training quickly passed by.

"The bag check's taking forever!" A female reporter complained as she stood in the giant line to check in. They had come early for this, but every news station in the _nation_ was here today. That, _plus_ the thousands of supporters and Pro Heroes all coming to watch the show. The cameraman besides the reporter merely shrugged at her anxiousness.

"Well, they _were_ just attacked by villains... Of course they'll be more strict. There are people criticizing their decision to hold it this year."

At that mention, the reporter grew excited, "Controversy equals ratings! Class 1-A will be the ones to watch this year, huh?"

And they were indeed... Today is the day of U.A.'s sports festival!

* * *

Class 1-A all waited in the participant waiting room before the sports festival began. By the lockers, Mina pulled at her gym shirt with a pout.

"Man... I wanted to wear my costume."

"To keep everything fair for the other courses, we can't," Ojiro explained with smile. He was stretching his arms as the door to the waiting room slid open and Iida popped in with news of when the event was officially starting.

"Everyone, are you ready? We will be entering soon!"

The class president's announcement made Mineta frantically draw the kanji for "person" on his palm before swallowing it to calm his nerves. Next to him, Midoriya repeatedly breathed in deeply and exhaled. Uraraka was jittering at her seat, but when she looked over at Shiro, she noticed that the girl had her eyes closed and her posture was calm.

"Shiro-chan, are you not nervous at all?"

Keeping her eyes closed, Shiro let out a small breath before answering. "I am, that's why closing my eyes. Thinking makes me calmer."

"Oh, I see!" Uraraka said, following in her example.

"That was an ironic statement," Sero commented with a grin.

Deep in the abyss of her mind, Shiro was recounting the days leading up to the festival. The training, the work she put in, the...

 _Accident with Bakugou during training._

Blushing at that quick flash of memory, she shut her eyes tighter and switched to thinking over the words Aizawa said to her this morning before she got here.

 _"This is a big chance, Shiro. You have a rare Quirk, but it's a hard one to showcase... I doubt I have to tell you this, but your every move should be calculated with the highest efficiency to effectiveness ratio. This is an event that the whole country is watching closely, but the important thing here are the Pro Heroes looking to scout prospects. Being just 'good' will not gain their attention."_

 _"I know that from just your expectations, Eraserhead."_

 _"Then you should know to go out there and show them_ ** _why_** _they should be paying attention to_ ** _you_** _."_

"It's not working!"

Uraraka's loud sigh broke Shiro out of her thoughts. Finally opening her eyes, she saw that the girl was running her fingers through her hair in frustration.

"It's only making me think about the festival more...!"

She patted the girl on the back sympathetically. This event was important for everyone in this room, and no one wanted to mess up. Everyone was aiming for the top and it was a certainty that those who do well have a much better chance of becoming Pro Heroes.

"Midoriya."

She turned curiously when Todoroki suddenly called out to the curly haired male behind her. She's never seen the two interact much, so it was surprising to see that they were talking. It seemed that the rest of the class thought the same, as now all pairs of eyes were on them.

"Todoroki-kun? What is it?"

"Looking at things objectively, I think I'm stronger than you," Todoroki stated without holding back. His eyes narrowed, "But All Might has his eyes on you, doesn't he?"

She saw that Midoriya visibly reacted to that accusation, but he didn't say anything. Actually, she had been wondering that for a while, and Todoroki was just bringing up everyone's observations.

"I won't pry about that, but whatever the case, I'm going to beat you."

"Oh?" Kaminari looked at the two of them nervously as Kirishima stood up. "Is the best in the class making a declaration of war?"

"Hey, why are _you_ picking a fight all of a sudden?" the redhead came up behind Todoroki and set a hand on his shoulder. He was saying what everyone was thinking; usually this role was taken by Bakugou. "This isn't exactly the best time, we're about to start!"

"We're not here to play at being friends," Todoroki shrugged Kirishima's hand off roughly and turned away. "So what does it matter?"

 _"You're not here to make friends."_

Aizawa's statement from a while ago rang through Shiro's mind. There are people here who thought the same way he did, after all. She blinked at Todoroki. _Though, I thought we were on good terms... Guess not?_

"Todoroki-kun," Midoriya suddenly called after the male. "I don't know what you're thinking when you say you'll beat me, but of course you're better than me. I think you're more capable than most people... Looking at it objectively..."

"Ah, Midoriya, you don't have to think so negatively—" Kirishima started to console the boy, but he was cut off.

"But," Midoriya gripped his fists and looked up, "Everyone here and all the students from the other courses—they're all aiming for the top with everything they've got. I can't afford to fall behind. So that's why... I'll be going for it with everything I have, too!"

 _Midoriya..._ Shiro stared at his determined face and took a deep breath for herself. Aizawa was right. Being just 'good' wasn't going to cut it if everyone here is giving their 100% and more.

 _I have to put myself completely out there, too. But how?_

* * *

 _"HEY! Pay attention, audience! Swarm, mass media! This year's high school rodeo of adolescence that you all love, the U.A. sports festival, is about to begin... Everybody, ARE YOU READY?!"_

Shiro could hear Present Mic's voice project loud and clear as her class strode through the tunnel connecting to the stadium. She walked next to Midoriya, his declaration still clear on her mind.

 _"It's time for the students to enter for the first-year stage!"_

The light from the other end was blinding; fireworks exploded in the sky, and as soon as they walked out, the entire stadium shook with cheers.

"U.A.'s sports festival! The huge battle where fledging heroes sharpen their swords once a year!" Present Mic, from his position in the announcement cube, pointed right at her class to fuel the crowd's excitement. "Anyway, these are the guys, right? The miraculous new stars who overcame enemy attacks with their hearts of steel! Hero course, class 1-A!"

"T-There's so many people...!" Midoriya gulped as he glanced at the bleachers. The entire stadium was packed; usually the third-year's stage had the most attendance, but considering all that happened...

"Will we be able to give our best performance being watched by so many people?" Iida wondered, his eyes also shifting from one end of the stage to the other to gage the amount of people. "I see. This is also part of the training required to become a hero."

"I think Present Mic's gone a little overboard with the praise..." Shiro sighed at the direction of the hero before looking ahead again. _Everyone's already paying special attention to us because of the USJ incident. There is no room to mess up._

"I'm getting nervous!" Kirishima grinned as he followed behind Bakugou. "Aren't you, Bakugou?" The blonde's face morphed into a triumphant smirk.

"No, I'm just getting more into it."

Present Mic listed off the rest of the classes, and soon, all of the first-year classes gathered in the middle of the stage. Shiro saw the purple haired male standing with his general studies class, as well as the gray haired male with class 1-B, and her lips turned up.

"Time for the player pledge!" Midnight announced as she raised her flogger. The R-Rated hero was the chief umpire for the first-year class this year, and her mere presence made several of the male students and the audience blush from head to toe.

"What is Midnight-sensei wearing?" Kirishima muttered with a blush of his own. Kaminari only nodded with approval next to him.

"That's an R-Rated hero for you."

"Hey... If you really look at it, it's like the sexier concept of Aisaka's costume!" Mineta commented with his eyes showing full approval. Shiro blanched, and then a blush made its way to her own cheeks at the preposterous suggestion. The hero's costume was erotica-inspired, hers _wasn't!_

"The leotard over a bodysuit, the belt—if you switched out the weapon for a _whip_ —"

"Shut the hell up, Balls-For-Brain," the explosive blonde in front of them scowled, getting irritated with the shorter male's perverse ramblings. Mineta squeaked and recoiled back in fear but Shiro couldn't even feel bad for him.

 _This is the one time I'll commend Bakugou for his insults..._

"Quiet, everyone!" Midnight demanded as she whipped her flogger for emphasis. "Representing the students for the pledge—Bakugou Katsuki and Aisaka Shiragiku from class 1-A!"

Suddenly, all pairs of eyes were on Shiro and Bakugou. She was also surprised, but she had sort of figured since she tied with Bakugou back during the entrance exam that this _might_ happen. _Shoot, I'm still not prepared for this..._ Seeing that Bakugou was striding confidently up towards the stage, she was forced to follow suit. Whispers sounded behind them.

"What is Kacchan going to say...?"

"Geez, the other classes already hate us enough..."

"At least Shiro-chan's up there, too!"

Shiro eyed the blonde as he stopped in front of the mic. She couldn't read his expression since it was set on neutral. _What's he going to say?_

"I pledge—" Bakugou started, his eyes focused as he looked at the crowd before him, "—that I'll be number one."

All jaws visibly dropped.

 _Damn it, I shouldn't even be surprised that he'd say something like that..._ Shiro rolled her eyes as the male turned around, inciting a cacophony of protests and shouts. How in the world was she going to calm them down now? Better yet, what the hell was she going to say after _that?_

"At least become a nice bouncy step for me to jump off of," he said, and she suddenly realized how serious his expression was. Rather than saying that he was being overconfident, he was carefully considering everyone his enemy. He walked off, bumping his shoulder softly against hers. "Hey, hurry up so we can start this damn thing."

Her lips set into a straight line as she took his spot. Bakugou was serious about winning.

But so was she.

"Another one from class 1-A, huh?"

"Who cares? That blonde's already gotten on my nerves..."

 _This Prickhead..._ The shouts calmed down a little with Midnight's piercing glare for them to quiet down again. _He's got everyone's attention, that's for sure._

"I pledge that everyone here will put on a good performance..." she started as some of the students quickly lost interest. Others, mainly her classmates, regarded her with a warm smile. They felt that she was going to smooth the mood again. But... That just wasn't her. She couldn't just let Bakugou take all of the fun.

 _"Go out there and show them_ ** _why_** _they should be paying attention to_ ** _you_** _."_

"However," Shiro's voice rang clear and pointed. She made sure that everyone was looking at her before a challenging grin appeared on her face.

"I also pledge to do _even better._ "

* * *

 **I'm too eager for this... Hence why the updates are rolling in so fast! I'd love to hear your thoughts and reviews, though, so please please please let me know what you guys think! Don't be a silent reader :)**


	10. Start!

**Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _start!_

.

.

.

In the announcement cube, Present Mic was absolutely enthralled by one daring pledge after another. "That's class 1-A for ya, everybody!" he shouted, nudging the companion seated next to him. "The first-year stage really is where it's at this year, huh, Mummy Man?"

"You don't even need me here, do you?" Aizawa deadpanned.

"Now!" Midnight announced from her position in the center of the field. "Let's get started right away. The first game is what you'd call a qualifier... Every year, many drink their tears here! Here is the fateful first game!" she whipped her flogger up as a digital screen appeared behind her. The options spun like a lottery-style number generator. "This year, it's..."

Suspense hung in the air as everyone's eyes zeroed in on the generator. No matter what the qualifier was going to be this year, one thing never changed. Less than half of the students will pass to go onto the next stage.

"...an obstacle race!" the R Rated hero introduced as graphics appeared on the screen to explain the race. "All 11 classes will participate in this race. The course will be the outer circumference of this stadium—about 4 kilometers! Our school's selling point is freedom," Midnight's lips turned into a sadistic smirk as her blue eyes narrowed with anticipation. "As long as you stay in the course, it doesn't matter what you do! Now, take your places!"

At the hero's order, Shiro and the rest of the students turned towards the door that rumbled open to lead them out of the stadium. She stood besides Kirishima as they waited for the go signal.

"Shiro-chan, what you said up there..."

She stared into Kirishima's serious red orbs curiously, wondering if her pledge had sounded too overconfident in the male's opinion. She had tried to make it sound less obnoxious than Bakugou's, of course, but what she said was truly what she wanted to aim for, so she wouldn't apologize for that.

"...it was pretty damn manly!" he finished with a glint of a teardrop in his eye. "So I gotta do better, too!"

"Ah," Shiro nodded at his enthusiasm and offered him a fist of encouragement. "Good luck then, Kirishima-san."

"Yeah, you too!" he bumped his fist with hers with a wide grin.

They watched as the three green lights on top of the door slowly dimmed one by one. At the last light, the hero announced, "Start!"

Everyone took off.

Immediately, Shiro knew the tunnel was too narrow for all of the students to get through at once like they were all trying to do, and she did not want a repeat of what happened during the security breach. _It doesn't matter what we do as long as we stay on the course, right?_ Activating her right eye, she jumped up above the packed crowd as her Quirk allowed her to make those in her path work favorably in becoming like stepping stones for her to leap across.

"Ouch! Hey!"

"Oi, that's my head!"

"What the hell?!"

She was, in the very form, embodying Bakugou's statement.

 _Sorry... But I can't fall behind!_

Making it towards the very front, she suddenly felt a burst of cold air and knew exactly what it was. _He's sifting out the competition already, huh?_ She propelled herself off of someone's head with a push of force from her arms. Landing just a few feet behind Todoroki, she worked to catch up to him. Behind her, she saw that all of her classmates had anticipated Todoroki's total freeze-over and also got out safely.

"What made you think this trick would work the second time when it didn't work the first?" she challenged as she ran side-by-side next to the male. Todoroki offered her a cold smirk.

"I expected nothing less from class 1-A. Though, more people _outside_ of our class were able to dodge that than I expected..."

On their tail, Mineta was bouncing his way over with his sticky purple spheres. He was laughing wildly as he started falling towards them in preparation to throw his spheres. "I've outwitted you, Todoroki!" He was going to first stick Todoroki to the ground and then stick _himself_ onto Shiro. _Two birds with one stone, muahaha!_

"Take my special attack! Gra—!"

 _WHAM!_

The short boy never got to execute his "perfect" plan because a robotic arm had suddenly swung down on him and nearly knocked him off track. "Targets found..." the many zero point faux villains from the entrance exam focused its red laser eyes on the students, "...lots!"

 _"Obstacles have shown up suddenly!"_ Present Mic's voice boomed over the speakers. _"Starting with the first barrier... ROBOT INFERNO!"_

Shiro's ruby eyes narrowed at the amount of zero pointers. Passing them would not be easy, especially since they were too large for her to destroy. Plus, using both of her eyes so early in the game would only set her up to fail for the next round. _All I can do is try to pass them!_

"So this is what they used in the general entrance exam?" Todoroki said as he stepped forward with blocks of ice forming underneath his feet and hand. "If they went through all this trouble, I wish they would've prepared something better."

"Easy for _you_ to say..." she trailed off as he swiped his arm across the area to encase the entire row of robots in ice. _But damn..._

"He stopped them all! We can get through it!"

"I wouldn't do that..." Todoroki called before taking off. "I froze them when they were unbalanced. They'll fall over."

 _I'll take whatever I can get at this point!_ Shiro's left eye swirled and she immediately followed behind. The frozen robots came crashing down, but she was not going to get herself injured this time around. However, she quickly found that running on ice was a challenge in itself. If it wasn't for her Quirk lowering her chances of harm by steadying her footing on the least ice-slicked portions of the ground, she would've not been able to dodge the parts crashing down at her. Another robot part landed right next to her and she twisted her body away just in time.

"You're sure not making this any easier for us..." she gritted her teeth as she tried to balance her footing behind the male.

"Of course not," he said with a glowering look. "Not when my stupid old man is watching."

She fell silent briefly after that since she knew it was a sensitive topic. Finally passing the first barrier, the ground below her feet was no longer froze over and she could focus on catching up to the bicolor haired male again. One of the zero pointer's tail came smashing down on the ground and a piece broke off, and Shiro jumped up to catch the long rod-like metal and grinned. _Perfect, at least now I have a weapon!_

 _"Todoroki from class 1-A! He attacked and defended in one hit! How elegant!"_ Present Mic relayed the play-by-play. _"And he's the first one through! It's practically unfair!"_

 _"His actions are logical and strategic,"_ Aizawa answered simply.

 _"As expected of someone who got through recommendations! Oh wait, is that—?!"_ the Voice hero slammed his hands down on the table excitedly. _"It looks like Aisaka, also from class 1-A, is hot in pursuit! What's she going to do with that metal bar, though?!"_

Behind the two leading individuals, the others were still trapped on the other side of the fallen robots along with the new ones that had gathered again. Kirishima, who got crushed beneath a robot, smashed his way through angrily.

"That bastard Todoroki! If it hadn't been me under those robots, someone would've died!"

At the same time, the gray haired male from class 1-B also smashed his way out with the same look. "Class 1-A is really filled with bastards! If it hadn't been me, someone would've died!"

 _Kirishima Eijiro, Quirk: Hardening. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, Quirk: Steel._

"Those guys are lucky..." Kaminari said as they took off into the "robot inferno", as Present Mic called it. "They can get through it without worrying about getting crushed!"

A fiery blast from behind rang through the students' ears as Bakugou soared over their heads with an angry scowl. "As if I'd let these bastards get ahead of me!" he shouted, propelling his way up the robots with his explosion as his vision zeroed in on the two that were far ahead of the race. "I'm coming for you, Pigtails, Half and Half!"

Following his example, the other students in class 1-A used their own Quirks to assist them through the obstacle. After first-handedly experiencing what it was like to be faced with real danger, they were not one to stand around and wait for something to happen. They're giving all they've got!

 _"Hey, hey! The first barrier's a piece of cake? Then what about the second?"_

Being among the first to reach the second obstacle, Shiro took a second to take in the sheer depth of the canyons. If she fell down one of those, there will be no way up. But a smirk made its way to her lips.

"See you on the other side!" she called as she took off before Todoroki. With the handy rod in her hands, it worked to increase her rotational inertia and aid in maintaining stability while her left eye served as an extra precaution against falling while running.

 _"The roles have been reversed! Aisaka just left Todoroki in the dust!"_ Present Mic announced. _"With her probability manipulation Quirk, she can lower the chances of her faling to less than 1% as she expertly pulls off this tight-rope stunt!"_ he shouted with full energy. _"But it looks like Todoroki is easily right behind her as he glides across the ropes! What is he, ice skating?!"_

Shiro passed through to the other side and continued to run, but Todoroki was barely milliseconds behind her. _As expected, he's hard to shake off..._ Behind them, Bakugou was hot in pursuit as he blasted his way through the canyon.

* * *

In the crowd, the audience were awestruck at the powers and techniques the students were displaying as they made their way through the obstacles. Many eyes were especially on the two that were currently leading.

"Those two are way ahead!"

"That guy's Quirk is really strong, but his natural athletic ability and judgment are also a cut above everyone else's."

"Of course it is. That's the Flame Hero: Endeavor's son!"

"No wonder... But what about the girl? How is she able to keep up with the blood of the guy second to only All Might? Incredible!"

"I haven't seen her do anything really _extraordinary_ with her Quirk though, so it's dull compared to the ice Quirk."

"It's a rare Quirk, isn't it? I've never heard of it."

"Well, rather than keeping us guessing... At least we know _for sure_ that the Flame Hero's son will be the one that the pros will fight over to get as a sidekick after this!"

Aizawa scoffed softly as he took in some of the comments. It wasn't that Shiro was _incapable_ of making her probability manipulation flashy and strong; it was just irrational to use up precious energy in the first round. She was aiming for the final match, so it was smart to conserve energy now. Besides, he was impressed that she was still able to keep up with Todoroki.

 _She's showing off, too._

* * *

By the time Shiro reached the last obstacle, she was slowly getting out of breath. Todoroki was stronger in nearly every aspect; it took everything in her to merely keep up a few steps behind him. Right now, he was already inside of the obstacle, but she wondered why he had suddenly slowed down...

 _"And we're at the final barrier! The reality here is..."_

Her eyes then widened at the faint circles littering the ground before her. _Don't tell me..._

 _"...That's right! A minefield! It's set up so that you can tell where the mines are if you look carefully! So you have to exploit your eyes and legs! By the way, the landmines are for games, so they're not that powerful,"_ the Voice hero chuckled. _"But they're loud and flashy enough to make you wet your pants!"_

 _"That depends on the person,"_ came Aizawa's deadpanning mutter.

 _If they're not that powerful, then it's only here to slow down the person in the lead... Heh, perfect!_ Shiro thought and started to hop around the mines with her eye activated to naturally lead her towards the favorable gaps at a much quicker pace than the careful male before her. It was times like this that she truly appreciated her Quirk. A few more steps and she will be caught up to—

"Oi!" Bakugou was suddenly right behind her since his explosion worked in tandem with the landmines—both propelled him forward at a blinding speed. "Don't think that Half and Half is your only competition! _I'm_ right here!" he shouted, sending another blast of energy from his palm as he reached towards her.

Shiro managed to dodge his other ignited hand while her Quirk worked quickly to make sure that she landed on a safe spot. "And you _should be_ back there!" she snapped and swung the metal bar at him, forcing him to back off. She had been _so_ close to Todoroki, damn it!

 _"We've now got Bakugou coming in hot as he ties with Aisaka for second! Todoroki is still in the lead, but the two are fighting their way over for first! Rejoice, mass media! It's the kind of development you guys love!"_

"I gotta give that bastard a piece of my mind! He shouldn't be declaring war on the wrong person!" Bakugou flipped over and used his explosion to launch his body off the ground. "So get out of my way!"

"As if I'll let you get ahead of me!" she shouted and jumped forward.

"I fucking will!"

With Bakugou quickly blasting up to her again, she needed to change up her strategy because she knew she couldn't keep fending off the blonde; the finish line was just a third of the way ahead of them and she needed to get ahead of Todoroki _now_. With her hands gripping tightly onto her weapon, she suddenly got an idea.

 _This isn't flexible, but it'll have to do..._

Taking a deep breath, she ran forward with a hop as both of her hands gripped the highest part of the rod. Searching for the perfect spot and then digging the rod into the ground, she raised her right knee as her left foot stomped on a mine below. The pressure from the explosion added enough force to swing her forward.

"Todoroki-san!" she shouted just as she aimed her right foot at him, her right eye spinning to land the hit. The male widened his eyes and used his arms to block, but he played right into her plan and she used the opportunity for her foot to push off his arm and she flipped over him with her hands on his shoulder. "Thanks for the boost!"

Landing a few feet in front of the male now, she didn't waste any time and took off again.

 _"Did you see that, audience?! Aisaka just pole vaulted her way over and used Todoroki like a vaulting box to steal the lead! These are familiar moves everyone should know! This is why your junior high physical education is important!"_

"Aisaka..." Todoroki's heterochromatic eyes narrowed into slits. A part of him was impressed... While the other part of him was now very angry.

"Hey, bastard!"

A spark exploded right next to his ear as he twisted his body to the side. Bakugou wasn't playing around, either; his expression nothing but pure and pissed determination. Todoroki found himself head-to-head with the blonde with one goal in mind: to catch up to the girl who was ahead of them.

 _I've made two dangerous enemies..._ Shiro furrowed her eyes as she continued to jump around the landmines. Now that her only weapon was gone, so was any other backup plan. Todoroki had started to use his ice again to run full speed ahead, and Bakugou was using the explosions to quickly decrease the distance between them. She was clearly at a disadvantage here since her Quick can only make her avoid the mines, not excel her speed.

"First place is mine, Pigtails!" Bakugou reached over from her right with sparks in his palms. She quickly jumped aside, her hair nearly getting caught in the sparks.

"Hey! Watch it!" she growled.

"Prepare yourself, Aisaka!"

Todoroki was on her other side, his ice working towards her and forcing her to jump back. However, with that came the inevitable as she started sliding sideways. _He did this on purpose—!_ Catching herself by staying low on the ground, she managed to gather enough inertia to save herself from flying off and landing on a mine, but that made her fall two steps behind once again.

 _"That's right people! This is a reminder that chivalry has long died with the knights!"_ Present Mic announced urgently, his brows raised high on his forehead. _"Todoroki and Bakugou, after ruthlessly ganging up on Aisaka, have now taken the lead!"_

Shiro gritted her teeth and was immediately on the run again. She was determined to not use her reality rewrite on the first round, so there was no time to lose and the only thing she could do for now was catch up to them as fast as her legs could possibly take her. _I'm close behind, if I can just—_

An incredibly loud explosion suddenly resonated across the entire field and she could see a giant pink mushroom cloud erupt behind her. _What in the world...?_ Her ruby eyes shot up when Midoriya, equipped with a slab of metal he was riding like a sled, shot through the air.

 _"Was this an accident?! Or intentional?! It doesn't matter because class 1-A's Midoriya is now in hot pursuit with that blast! We may just have ourselves a new lead!"_

As she ran through the field behind Todoroki's ice path, her eyes zeroed in on the flying boy above the sky. At the speed that he was going, she calculated that he had a great chance of passing both herself and the two currently in front of her, and that's when she realized that this was exactly what she needed at the moment.

 _Midoriya..._ The black dial on her left eye spun rapidly as she focused on the curly haired boy's landing. _I'm sorry!_

 _"Woah! It's like Midoriya's ride suddenly lost all velocity! What are the chances?!"_ the Voice hero exclaimed. _"This can only mean one thing...!"_

 _I lowered his chance of passing Todoroki and Bakugou, and instead..._ she moved a few steps to her right to get off of the ice path and then continued on her way. _He's now headed straight for them!_

With Midoriya quickly plummeting towards the two leads, Shiro was finally able to run past them since they suddenly had to focus on trying to get rid of the curly haired male coming their way. And just like that, she cleared the minefield!

 _"Hell truly hath no fury like a woman scorned! Aisaka, scorned of her first place just a minute ago by Todoroki and Bakugou, is now back in the game and subsequently, back in the lead!"_

"Shit—! Get out of my way, Deku!"

Bakugou shouted as orange flames sparked dangerously from his palms. He was ready to blast Midoriya out of the way. On the same boat, Todoroki tried to increase his speed by sliding on the ice he made to avoid a collision with the male. However, Midoriya was not giving up yet. He braced his body back with his two legs pushing off of the two males' backs before swinging his metal shield down in front of him, thus detonating another forceful blast from the mines.

 _"Following right behind is Midoriya, who swiftly blocks those behind him! Would you believe it? He cleared the minefield in an instant!"_

Shiro turned her head back just to see the bloom of pink smoke quickly rumbling in the background, and suddenly, Midoriya shot out from the smoke and tumbled down a few feet ahead of her. "Seriously?!" she widened her eyes in surprise, but there was no time to stop as the two that she left behind were angrily in pursuit.

"Aisaka!"

"Pigtails!"

"They're relentless...!" she scowled and picked up speed.

* * *

"The four that are leading the race are all from class 1-A! Eraserhead, your class is amazing! What're you teaching them?!" Present Mic exclaimed.

"I didn't teach them anything," the Erasure hero insisted. He watched the four give their all as they raced towards the finish line. "They got each other fired up on their own."

"U.A. sports festival, first-year stage!"

"You're not even listening?!"

Present Mic stomped a foot on the table as his shoulders literally shook from the thrill of watching the scene that had unfolded. "Who could've predicted the developments at the beginning or this conclusion?" his eyes watched with anticipation as the four leading students were temporary blocked from view when they entered into the tunnel that lead back into the main stage. Suddenly, the result was clear.

"Right now, the first person back in the stadium _is_...!"

* * *

As soon as Shiro passed through the tunnel with the last burst of speed that she had mustered, she immediately collapsed into the soft grass once the light hit. The crowd was cheering loudly as confetti rained down into the field.

However, it wasn't because of her.

Midoriya, despite everything, had managed to rise above and rightfully won first place. This of course meant that she was second, and right behind her was Todoroki in third and Bakugou in fourth.

Accepting her defeat, Shiro walked up to the male as he stared at his hand. "Midoriya-san..." she called out as he immediately jolted to look at her. "Congratulations," she said earnestly before she rubbed her head sheepishly. "And... Sorry for using you to fend off the other two. I hope I didn't actually hurt you."

"Oh no, you were just doing what you could! It's okay!" Midoriya insisted as he waved his hands around. "I-I'm not hurt, either!"

Shiro blinked at him before a small smile appeared on her face. "That's good... You really deserved the winner title since you were able to override my probability manipulation," she said. "You're actually amazing."

"I-It's not that! I just happened to be able to use something I thought I could use. What's amazing was my luck... It was a lucky punch," Midoriya blushed deeply at her praise, insisting that he wasn't all that great. _My real ability will be tested after this..._

Not giving into his humbleness, Shiro merely shook her head.

"Well, it doesn't change the fact that you did a great job," she concluded definitely. The male could only meekly accept her praise thereafter, since she was not leaving any room for discussion.

Suddenly finding her throat incredibly dry, Shiro then excused herself and went off to find a water fountain as Midnight announced for them to hang tight as the results will be posted after the rest of the students have made their way across the finish line. Feeling the refreshing chill of cold water run down her throat, she sighed contently as she greedily gulped it down.

"Aisaka."

Gulping down the last mouthful of water, she turned at the sound of her name being called. "Todoroki-san!" her lips quirked up at the male. "Hey, you _almost_ had me back there. Congratulations on placing thir—"

"Friendly chit-chats mean nothing to me. Just know that this won't happen again," he cut her off clearly, his tone lacking any ounce of friendliness that he'd given to her days before. "I am aiming to defeat Midoriya, so I don't intend to let _anyone_ get in my way. What you are is a distraction from my goal."

 _Geez, harsh. And I really thought we were friends._

"If you understand, then—"

This time, Shiro cut him off.

"Look, I _intend_ to stay out of your way because your sudden grudge against Midoriya-san has nothing to do with me. But don't be mistaken," she stepped up towards him as her ruby eyes narrowed at his icy heterochromatic orbs. "I'm also trying to prove myself out here. If I _do '_ get in your way', I won't be sorry for it. It's only natural when you're aiming for the top... Nothing personal."

Todoroki's brows furrowed, and he was about to say something else when he caught sight of a classmate in the background coming towards them.

 _"Shiro-chan! What are you doing over there?"_

Uraraka's sudden and unknowing intervention effectively ended the conversation short. It was a good thing, since it was already leaving a bad taste to her mouth. Before Shiro left to meet up with the rosy cheeked girl, however, she felt that she needed to add one more thing just because she was stubborn.

"Also... I won't assume to be your friend anymore since you're obviously not looking for one."

* * *

 **I hope I did the obstacle race justice... I enjoyed writing this part a lot! Special thanks to those who reviewed - I'll continue to do my best with the future chapters! ^_^**


	11. The Enemy of My Enemy

**Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _the enemy of my enemy_

.

.

.

"What were you talking about with Todoroki-kun back there?" Uraraka asked with wide eyes as they made their way back towards where everyone else was gathered.

"I just congratulated him," Shiro said. It was the truth anyway, but it was just that the bicolor haired male didn't accept it. The girl nodded without further question as her face lit up.

"Ah! I need to congratulate you, too! You and Deku-kun were so awesome! I'm actually kinda mad at myself!"

Shiro patted the girl's back with encouragement as Midnight stepped up to the stage again with the results of the obstacle race. There was no doubt that the rosy cheeked girl made it in the top and would be going onto the next round; actually, she believed that her whole class did pretty well. As the R Rated hero listed off the names, her speculation proved to be true. She was bewildered to find that right after Bakugou, two people from class 1-B had managed to snag the top spots and quite a few of them made it to the top 42. That only confirmed that the other class shouldn't be taken lightly.

"The top 42 made it to the next round," Midnight congratulated. "It's unfortunate, but don't worry even if you didn't make it! We've prepared other chances for you to shine. The real competition begins next! The press cavalry'll be all over it!"

 _Cavalry? That's an odd way to put it..._

"Aisaka-san," Ojiro whispered from behind the girl. He scratched his cheek meekly as she twisted her head back to look at him. "Even though you placed second, I heard you were really close to getting first... That's awesome! I managed to place 11th, but I feel like I was overshadowed by the flashier Quirks..."

"Ojiro-san," she stared at him. "You made it to the next round. That means you can improve."

He blinked at her matter-of-fact attitude. She wasn't wavering. "...You're right. Then I'll definitely show them my strength this time!" he answered with a light chuckle, and it prompted a small smile from the girl.

"Now then, here is the second game. I already know what it is, but what could it be? What could it be?" the hero taunted sadistically, making everyone gulp with the build-up of suspense. She then slapped her flogger down definitively, "I _just_ said it, and now..."

The generator started to slow its roll, but Shiro already had an inkling of what it was going to be from the hero's hint. _A cavalry battle, huh?_

"...here it is!" The screen before them flashed, and Midnight pointed to the next game with a grin. It was indeed a cavalry battle. "Let me explain. The participants can form teams of two to four people as they wish. It's basically the same as a regular cavalry battle, but the one thing that's different is... Based on the results of the last game, each person has been assigned a point value!"

 _A point-based system like the entrance exam?_ Shiro thought deeply as those around her started to chatter. _Hmmm..._

"That's easy to understand at least..."

"In other words, each team is worth different points depending on who's on the team!"

"Ah, I see what you mean!"

"Oi!" Midnight slapped her flogger down at the front row of students who started talking. "You guys don't hold back even though I'm talking, huh?!" she silenced them before going back to explaining. "But yes, that's right! The points assigned go up by five starting from the very bottom!"

Shiro realized that this was to make choosing a team that much harder, since you have to think about the amount of points you want to start off with versus the the type of people you want on your team—and the two might be on opposite ends of the spectrum. However, she already knows one person she wanted on her team regardless of the points.

"So the 42nd gets five points, the 41st gets 10 points! And the point value assigned to first place is... 10 million!"

 _10... MILLION?_

At that staggering number, everyone's eyes suddenly zeroed in on the curly haired first place winner with plotting expressions. Shiro realized how close it was for that to be _her_... And she knew what everyone was thinking. If you take down the first player's team, it didn't matter how many points you start off with. You'll be guaranteed a _win_.

"That's right," Midnight licked her lips with an excited blush on her face. "It's survival of the fittest, with a chance for those at the bottom to overthrow the top!"

* * *

"Are you sure...?"

"Yes," Shiro nodded confidently despite the male's skeptical response. "There's no one else I'd rather partner with for this!"

At her bold declaration, Ojiro blushed deeply and nodded. "Alright. I will do my best!"

"Great!" she gave him a relieved smile before looking around the field. Midnight had given them 15 minutes to form their groups, and while the hero said a two-person group was fine, Shiro felt that having more people wouldn't hurt. _But who else should we ask?_

"Maybe we should split up and each find someone?"

"Sure. Let's meet back here in 5 minutes, then," he offered as she gave him a nod before taking off. With a grin on his face, he turned around to the other direction to only accidently bump into someone. "Oh, sorry..."

"Are you trying to find another member?"

"Yes, but—" Ojiro started to answer before he fell silent.

"Perfect. Put me on your team," Shinso said as the male nodded listlessly.

* * *

Looking around the field, Shiro can see that many people have already found their groups or are searching for one more person. Seeing a crowd of her classmates, she lightened up and walked towards them.

"Team up with me!" Sato said, pointing to himself confidently. Mina cut in with a pout.

"What? Bakugou, team up with me!"

"Don't you want to team up with me?" Aoyama said shakily. He hadn't quite recovered from using his Quirk too much during the obstacle course. Despite that, he was adamant that the other blonde would choose him.

Bakugou regarded them all with a pointed look of confusion. "I don't know what Quirks you all have! What?!" he barked honestly before his red eyes narrowed on the familiar girl who was walking up to see what the crowd was about. "Pigtails—!"

"I'm not interested in being on your team," she immediately rejected, shocking everyone around her.

" _Ha?!_ Who the hell said anything about teaming up with you?!" Bakugou's eyes twitched irritably at her accusation. He was also quite offended that she'd reject him if he _had_ intended to pick her. "I plan on coming for you after I get that shitty Deku's 10 million points!"

"Only _if_ you can," she flashed him a challenging smirk, causing him to become even more irritated. "Anyway, I'm looking for another person to be on my team."

Those around the blonde suddenly turned to her with hopeful looks on their faces; if Bakugou didn't want to partner up, then Shiro was as good as anyone else. With her Quirk, she can decrease the chances of her headband being stolen while increase the chances of stealing other team's headbands. It was a double-whammy!

"Shiro-chan, pick me!"

"No way! If anything, I would be a better choice!"

Shiro knew that this round was a test of strategy and how well you can work with your team members, so rather than looking at points, she was only going to find those who will aid in her plan. Sato would be a good choice because of his strength, but she already had Ojiro. Hagakure, while useful because she was invisible, would only work if she was the rider. Mina's acid Quirk worked well on ice, so if she were to go up against Todoroki, she would be a strong alley. But if she considered all of her opponents, she needed someone with a Quirk that was long-ranged for safety measures or someone who could withstand a lot of attack.

"Hey!" Kirishima was running up to them. "Todoroki chose his team already!"

"Kirishima-san," she immediately walked up to him, finding that he was the _perfect_ person that she described as a solid defense. "Will you be on my team?"

"Eh?!"

"Shiro-chan!"

The redhead, while flattered that the girl wanted him out of all people, could only rub his head sheepishly. "Sorry, Shiro-chan..." he apologized when she stared at him, nonplussed. "You inspired me to do better! With you taking second place so coolly like that... I can't do better than you if I'm on your team. I have to prove myself! And actually, I came to get Bakugou to team up with me!" he admitted. Both the blonde in question and Shiro looked completely offended.

"Hedgehog Hair..." he muttered with a twitch of his eye. "Are you fucking suggesting that I'm weaker than Pigtails?!"

"He chose... _Prickhead_ over me...?" Shiro mumbled to herself, her legs buckling as she fell to the ground. She never thought she'd feel so betrayed and defeated by Kirishima of all people.

"I'm Kirishima! At least try to remember!" Kirishima yelled at Bakugou before turning to console the girl. However, Aoyama was already to it as he set a hand on Shiro's shoulder, his face showing less discomfort now that his stomachache subsided.

"Just pick me. I shine brighter than all of them."

"What kind of encouragement was that?!"

But curiously, the flamboyant male's words did make Shiro blink back her blow of pride. She stood back up with resolve.

"Aoyama-san... You're in."

* * *

The entire time that Shiro was walking back to meet up with Ojiro, Aoyama could not stop sparkling.

"With me on your team, the scouts will not be able to tear their eyes off!" he boasted, a hand coming up to support his head coolly. "Especially as a rider—I'll be the star shinning brightly on top!"

"Aoyama-san, for this team to work with the most effectiveness, I have to be the rider," Shiro laid it to the male straight. He could definitely tone it down with the self-praises, but she found him to be a strong alley because his Quirk had great firing power _and_ it was long-ranged like she wanted. "But don't worry. You'll still be front and center."

"A very fitting role for someone like me who stands out!" he exaggerated, proving that it hadn't wavered his spirit or his overweening importance. "Ne, who else is on this dazzling team?"

"Ojiro-san..." she trailed off when she caught sight of the male standing at the exact same spot that they were to meet up at. She picked up her pace with Aoyama running behind her. "Ojiro-san! Did you find anyone?"

The blonde turned to face her and she grew confused why he had such a blank look in his eyes. However, he nodded at her question and a familiar male sporting a mess of purple hair stepped towards her.

"That would be me," he told her with his baggy eyes staring into her ruby orbs unwaveringly. "We meet again. I finally know _your_ name this time, Aisaka Shiragiku."

"...Shinso-san!" she blinked with surprise. She hadn't expected Ojiro to recruit the guy who declared war on class 1-A, or the fact that the guy would want to join a team full of them. _It's not necessarily a bad thing, though._

"Aren't you the guy who declared war on us? Ne, what's your motive?" Aoyama asked quite straightforwardly, though on his face still sported that good-natured grin.

 _I thought he was just an idiot, but he's actually observant,_ Shinso thought. Staring at the two before him with a bored look, he decided to quickly do what he needed so that he didn't have to deal with them anymore. He opened his mouth as his Quirk activated secretly.

"I don't know your reasoning..." Shiro accidentally cut him off before he could speak when she broke out of her own thoughts. "But, welcome to the team," she said and extended out her hand.

Shinso took it attentively as his Quirk deactivated again. _She just trusted me like that...? If I had known, then I wouldn't have needed to use that on him. Oh well..._

"We don't know him or his Quirk," Aoyama supplied again as he posed extravagantly. "How do you know if he will be compatible with us?"

"Why not? All Quirks are different," the girl answered simply. "However, they hold the same principle. No matter what the ability may be, there'll always be a way to use it beneficially as long as you can find that niche."

Shinso was completely stunned at her words. What she said brought him back to the day of the entrance exam when he first met her and had felt the same feeling of connection. It was here again today. _Class 1-A aren't **all** full of arrogant people after all._

"Anyway, since you wanted to join us, do you have something in mind, Shinso-san?"

"Let's hear out your strategy first," he prompted.

"Sure," she shrugged, finalizing the plan as she faced her new team. "Here's the formation. As the rider, I'll be the eyes of the team and give out directions if we need to change courses. Ojiro-san will be the right wing, keeping the enemy away with his tail as defense and as well as jumping power when we need it. Aoyama-san will be in front—"

"As the star," the blonde interjected with a sparkle in his eye.

"—as the main source for speed boosting and attacking power," she continued without missing a beat. "Shinso-san, that means you'll be the left wing. I need to know your Quirk, though, so I can figure out what you can do."

"I know what I can do with my Quirk on my own," he merely stated, not giving a clue to what his Quirk was.

 _If he's that confident about it, then okay..._ Shiro thought before nodding. "As for what I was thinking... Midoriya-san will for sure be employing a flight response rather than staying to fight. Everyone will be targeting him, so we will need to get to him first. This is why Aoyama-san's navel laser will come in handy along with Ojiro-san's hit-and-run technique," she finalized as she turned to the purple haired male. "Do you have anything to add?"

 _She's quite intelligent, but..._ Shinso regarded her coolly. "In fact, yes. I have a better idea."

* * *

 _"All right! You've made your teams, right?! No? Well, I'm not asking if you're ready! Now let's go!"_

Present Mic announced as the 15 minutes of planning were up, signaling that the cavalry game was soon starting. Everyone was done picking their teams and gathered around with their new accumulated points.

 _"Counting down the brutal battle royal! Three..."_

With 450 points around her forehead, Shiro's team was currently placed fifth in terms of point placement.

 _"Two..."_

"To aim for the top..." her ruby eyes locked with Midoriya's wide green ones. "Shinso-san, we'll go with what you suggested..."

 _"One!"_

Midnight raised her flogger, "Start!"

Everyone immediately ran towards Team Midoriya as they zeroed in his 10 million-point headband. Curiously, Shiro's team lagged behind the rest.

* * *

"So what do you think, Mummy Man?" Present Mic addressed his companion, his voice projecting throughout the entire stadium as the teams below were in a frenzy of clusters around Midoriya for obvious reasons. "How are the teams doing so far?"

"You're the one doing the play-by-play," Aizawa stated offhandedly. Though, his eyes focused on Shiro's team. It looked like she started off not joining in on the fray, and he immediately saw through her first strategy with approval.

"Many teams are choosing to go for the biggest prize, but of course, 10 million isn't that easy to obtain when everyone is after it."

"Huh, so what could that mean, Mummy Man?!"

"It's obvious. While those teams are all butting heads..."

Aizawa smirked, though the Voice hero couldn't see it through the bandages. Below, Shiro's team was circling the teams that were too focused with gathering around Midoriya; like a wolf that had rounded up a herd of sheep, she was waiting.

"It opens up opportunity for the patient ones to strike."

* * *

Shiro reached over and ripped the 225-point headband off of Team Kodai, her right eye spinning. "Now!" she shouted.

Before their opponents could counterattack with a glue hardening Quirk, her team jumped away with the added strength from Ojiro and Aoyama used his navel laser to propel them away with ease. "Sparkle!" the blonde winked.

Securing the headband around her neck, she focused on another team to strike. So far, her team has managed to steal two headbands: 70 points from Team Tsunotori and the 225 points from Team Kodai.

"That makes 745 points!" she announced as Shinso nodded. He was the one who suggested that they should focus on the other teams for the first half because it was too hard to try and get Midoriya when everyone was targeting him. Shiro, originally wanting to be on full-offense mode, didnt agree at first. However, remembering that this was a team exercise and she wasn't in it alone, she finally adapted this strategy. After all, she also realized that it can simultaneously gain points _and_ show off the multiple skills used on different teams for the scouts in the audience.

 _"Three minutes into the game and it's a free-for-all! Fights over headbands breaking out all over! Like Eraserhead said, ignoring the 10 million and going for second to fourth places isn't bad, either!"_

"Looks like 10 million points is stuck," Shinso stated as they weaved around the other teams trying to get to Midoriya. Uaraka was somehow stuck to the ground by one of Mineta's extremely sticky spheres, rendering the team unable to move as people closed in.

"Aoyama-san," Shiro signaled amd they turned the opposite way while she stood and rotated back to face the target. This was a good chance; they needed to reach Midoriya before the other teams could. "Go!"

The blinding beam shot out from the male's navel and boosted their run towards their goal. With a hand reaching out to grab the headband, she was suddenly forced to recoil back as Tsuyu's pink tongue shot out from nowhere, grazing her arm slightly as it continued it's course towards Midoriya.

"I can't let you have it, Tsuyu-san!" Shiro shouted as her left eye spun to intercept the girl's tongue from landing on Midoriya. The tongue retracted back towards Shoji and she widened her eyes in surprise. _She's completely protected by his tentacles!?_

"I didn't expect any less from you, Shiro-chan," the girl peeked out from under Shoji's tentacle tent. Mineta also leered out the gap with an ominous chuckle.

"Attack!"

Immediately, there was an onslaught of purple spheres and Tsuyu's tongue coming towards both Shiro's team and Midoriya's team. Shiro's left eye worked to have her whole team dodge the attacks as she continued towards the 10 million headband. Seeing that he was both under attack and pursued, Midoriya also frantically dodged and grabbed ahold of the controller for the jet-pack before the force of the boost managed to break Uraraka's boot free.

Shiro gritted her teeth as she watched the boy soar through the air with his team. At that moment of distraction, one of Mineta's sphere landed on her shoulder and without thinking, her right hand grabbed it. "Shoot!" she widened her eyes as she heard Mineta laugh manically.

 _"It looks like Team Aisaka has been handicapped by Team Mineta's attack! What a sticky situation!"_ Present Mic howled with excitement overhead. _"What will they do now that their rider is permanently stuck in that position until the sphere loses its stickiness voluntarily by its user?"_

"I'm feeling great today, so it's going to stick for a while!" Mineta laughed as he pointed towards Shiro. "Shoji, charge! We got them now!"

"Aoyama-san, fend them off with your laser! Ojiro-san, Shinso-san, keep us moving while I do this," she ordered.

Shoji was forced to jump back and retreat when a beam of laser fired his way while Shinso and Ojiro worked to avoid Mineta's and Tsuyu's attacks. Curious about what Shiro was planning, the purple haired male glanced up briefly. His baggy eyes immediately widened.

"...What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" she replied almost irritably as she focused on her gym shirt with both of her eyes swirling. The fiber from the shirt was unwinding one by one, thus exposing her skin under the navy cloth.

 _"M-Mummy Man!"_ Present Mic's voice sounded frantic as the scene unfolded. Shiro was like a godchild to him; he couldn't just let the girl suddenly strip in front of millions of watching eyes. " _What is she doing!"_

 _"It's her reality rewrite,"_ Aizawa explained calmly. _"She's using it to get Mineta's sphere off of her."_

 _"That's not the point I'm getting at!"_

From under Shoji's tentacle tent, Mineta was positively dying from happiness. Who knew such a blessing would happen from his action?! "Tsuyu-chan, shoot me out with your tongue..." he stated with a determined blush on his face. "I'll grab her headbands while she's distracted!"

"Mineta-chan," Tsuyu deadpanned. "That's not what you're really aiming to grab, is it?"

"I-I'm doing this for the team!" he denied shamelessly. "Come on!"

The only drawback of her reality rewrite was that it took all of her concentration. But as soon as all the fibers came loose, she was able to morph it into what she wanted it to become. However, Mineta's pesky purple sphere somehow wouldn't rewrite into a handle like she wanted to, so she had no choice but to simply use that as the handle as the rest attached itself on top.

"Finished... Now," her ruby eyes glinted at Team Mineta as she pointed her newly formed whip at them. "Time for payback."

 _So her Quirk can do that too..._ Shinso thought. _But still... To go topless...?!_ While she did have a red sports bra underneath, it still didn't stop the blush that dashed across his face as he moved with the team towards their target.

"YAHHHHH!" Mineta, with his body securely wrapped by Tsuyu's tongue, launched across the field with his short arm reached out intending to grab the headbands around Shiro's neck. "Take my _Grab of Wrath_ —!"

As he was in midair, her whip swung out and grabbed Mineta's body. Shocked by both the capture and the fact that Shiro was wielding a _whip_ of all things at him, he completely froze as his thoughts trailed off the perverted path. Shiro reeled him in against Tsuyu's pull and teared the 420-point headband off his head.

"Thanks for the delivery, Tsuyu-san!" she said before snapping her whip to launch the boy back into the air. "But you can have him back!"

 _"A completely justified steal made by Team Aisaka! Now, who's got a spare change of clothes?!"_

* * *

The audience were all completely entranced as the teams fought each other for points. They were all in awe by the skills that kids these days had, and while one side was focused on Team Midoriya's escape through the air with Team Bakugou hot in pursuit for the 10 million points, the other half were completely won over by Team Aisaka's performance so far.

"That girl is so fast and unpredictable!"

"Did you see what she did earlier? You were right! Rare Quirks do have hidden powers!"

"I'm excited to see what else she can do! Class 1-A really is just full of surprises... There's _this_ much difference just from their experience fighting villains?"

"Of course! Class 1-A is definitely leading with the points!"

"Let's take a look at each team's points, shall we?" Present Mic announced after hearing numerous inquires about the status of how well each team is doing. "It's been seven minutes! Here are the current rankings up on the screen as we reach the second half of the game!"

As the leaderboard popped up on the widescreen above the stadium, a cacophony of surprise echoed throughout the crowd.

"Huh?"

"That's kinda..."

"What? Other than Team Midoriya with his 10 million, the rest of class 1-A aren't doing so well...?" Present Mic furrowed his brows as he leaned forward with disbelief. "But wait a minute! Team Aisaka is still at second place with—huh?! When did she get down to sixth place?!"

* * *

Shiro was just about to take Team Rin's 125-point headband when she thought she felt a light touch at the end of one of her pigtails. "Ojir—" she couldn't even finish her call for defense when two headbands around her neck was ripped off.

 _"Team Aisaka is still at second place with—huh?! When did she get down to sixth place?!"_

And just _seconds_ later, the Voice hero announced another shocking development:

 _"Team Bakugou? 0 POINTS?!"_

Everything around her started to spin in slow motion as she turned. Sandwiched between her team and Bakugou's team was Team Monoma, and around the blonde rider's fingers hung both 420 points and 225 points from her _and_ 665 points from Bakugou.

"Class 1-A is too simple-minded," he smirked, and Shiro felt that he looked oddly familiar.

 _That face..._

 _That smirk..._

Her eyes suddenly narrowed in recognition.

"You're that haughty _prick_ who bumped into me on the second day of school and couldn't even say sorry!"

"Ha? You talking shit about me, Pigtails?!" Bakugou shouted on the other side. Shiro rolled her eyes at his precision hearing and explosive accusation. To his defense, her allegation towards that male also described _him_ to a tee.

"Not you, Prickhead!" she angrily pointed to the class 1-B male who had both of their headbands. "I'm talking about _this_ prick who stole my headbands!"

"He stole mine too!" Bakugou suddenly realized and his face contorted into a threatening scowl. "Give that back! I'll kill you!"

"Since Midnight said it was the first game, it wouldn't make much sense for them to cut a ton of people in the qualifier, right?" Monoma spoke again calmly, but his voice was obviously laced with taunt. "Assuming they'd keep about forty people for the next stage, we just made sure we stayed within that number as we ran, observing from the back the Quirks and personalities of those who would be our rivals. There's no point in being obsessive over winning in the prelims, right?"

"You did this as a class?" Bakugou's voice muttered lowly.

Monoma tied the new headbands on his neck, adding onto the two he already had to make 2005 points. "Well, it wasn't a consensus, but it was a good idea, right? It's better than going after a temporary 'top' like a horse with a carrot waving in front of its face."

Shiro's eyes twitched. The way the male spoke was really starting to tick her off because he acts calm with a smile but the underlying attitude behind his words was just downright off-putting and unpleasant. At least when Bakugou is being insulting towards others, he doesn't hide it behind a deceiving face.

"Oh, while I'm at it, you're famous, aren't you? As the victim of the sludge incident!" he continued his taunt as he faced Bakugou in an obvious attempt to rile him up. It was working. "I wonder if the heroes that had to save class 1-A ever feel like just passing you to the villains? They must get so tired. You seem to attract villains every year."

That was the last straw.

"Kirishima... Change of plans..."

The redhead craned his head back just to see that the look on Bakugou's face was positively murderous as his entire person emitted a demonic aura. "Bakugou...?" However, looking across where another burning aura was emitting dangerously, he recoiled back at the even scarier expression that Shiro currently possessed. "S-Shiro-chan...?!"

"How dare you speak on the behalf of the heroes who _risked their lives_ for us..." she growled. "As if _you_ know anything?"

 _I got her, too?_ Monoma tilted his head with a smirk. _This really is hitting two birds with one stone._

"Before we get Deku..."

Bakugou's eyes contained nothing but pure fury as Shiro pulled the whip between her hands tautly with a resounding _snap_ to finish his thoughts.

"Let's get rid of _these guys_ first!"

* * *

 **Wooooooooo! So some exciting news - I got my hair dyed dusty pink yesterday hehe. If I choose to maintain this until October, I may just dress up as an anime character for Halloween or something LOL. Anyway, I hope you guys all enjoyed this chapter! Leave a review c:**


	12. What We're Aiming For

**Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _what we're aiming for_

.

.

.

 _Class 1-B had a long-term strategy that involved throwing the qualifier, huh? It's true that they could leave a stronger impression by overturning the mood that favored class 1-A before the sports festival started..._ Midoriya thought when he saw how provoked Bakugou and Shiro were on the other side of the playing field by the guy named Monoma. Looking around, he saw that teams were still coming after him, but with a few of class 1-B focusing on their own plan, he felt that he could at least breathe a little easier.

 _Based on their way of thinking, it means they won't necessarily come after me._

"Everyone," he announced to his teammates. "It'll be easier to run awa—"

His words got cut off when a loud skid screeched across the field. Skating towards them at a fast pace was Team Todoroki as they blocked off their path. Midoriya felt the sigh leaving his mouth turn into a shaky breath of determination rather than relief.

"...It won't be that easy, huh?"

The look in Todoroki's heterochromatic eyes were that of purpose as well as danger. The male was here for the 10 million, and he fully intended to get it by the end of this game.

* * *

"Monoma, stop provoking them!" One of his teammates rebuked. "You'll be the same as them."

"That's right. It wouldn't become a hero," the haughty blonde agreed with a shrug of his shoulders. He was acting so damn nonchalant about the entire thing and it was only further fueling the fire. "Besides, you don't often hear about it... Heroes who get done in by _villains_ who want revenge?"

"HA?!"

"Bakugou, calm down!" Kirishima urged. It wouldn't be good if the male was filled with too much rage to function normally. Then they'd _really_ have no chance. "Calm down first so we can actually get the points back!"

"Forward, Kirishima! I'm totally calm right now!"

Just across from them, Shiro's team was doing the same thing to get her emotional turmoil to subside. Aoyama, in his completely self-absorbed glory, ended up complimenting himself while attempting to calm her down. Ojiro had been, and still was, silent. Shinso sighed. It was up to him, huh?

"Hey, do you _not_ want to get those points back?"

Shiro's eyes snapped towards him angrily, "Obviously—!"

The words fell empty through her mouth as she slouched a little with a blank look. Seeing that she had efficiently calmed down, albeit with a little help, Shinso released his Quirk again. Immediately, she regained responsiveness and blinked in confusion.

"Then are you ready to get those points back with a clear head this time?" he asked.

"What..." Shiro swore her mind went blank for a few seconds there, but she ignored the weird feeling because there was a more pressing problem in front of her. The purple haired male was right; Bakugou was already moving towards Monoma to get those headbands and she couldn't stall anymore. "Aoyama-san!" she rotated her position and the team knew what needed to be done. "Full speed ahead!"

"Full _sparkles_ ahead!" Aoyama said and a giant beam shot them straight towards Monoma. Despite his grin, his face was showing faint signs of discomfort again from using his navel laser too much... However, the important thing was that they neared the male first.

"I'll take those back!" she shouted with her right eye swirling as she reached out to grab at his headbands. The left side of his gray eyes suddenly spun with a familiar black dial and she found herself just nicking at the edge of a headband with a fingernail as he easily dodged. She stared at him with shock, "That's _my_ Quirk—!"

"DIE...!"

Bakugou's palm popped with dangerous sparks as he swiped at Monoma's face, only to miss as well from the probability being lowered and his arm scraped across skin. _Pigtail's Quirk?!_ Surprised, he immediately turned around again but a blast exploded in his face from the male's palm. _Now it's mine?!_

"Wow, what nice Quirks!" Monoma praised with a derisive grin, his palm coming down as it touched Kirishima's hair.

"Bakugou, someone has the same Quirk as you?!" the redhead exclaimed.

 _There's no way he could have both mine and Bakugou's Quirk, unless..._ Shiro's eyes narrowed as she swung her whip at the male, aiming for an arm to restrain so that he can't move easily and she can get down to the bottom of this. However, Bakugou was quick to turn around again with an enraged growl, his palm sparking again and she widened her eyes when she saw a glimpse of another familiar Quirk.

"Wait, Ba—"

"You BASTARD!"

 _BOOM!_

Shiro felt the wave of aftershock when the explosion hit the arm she was currently restraining. When the smoke cleared, she saw that her speculation was right. _I knew it..._

"Wha...? Mine, too?!" Kirishima cried when he saw that half of the male's face and left arm had hardened to block Bakugou's impact. "The same again...?"

"That's not it," Bakugou interjected seriously, having come to the same conclusion as Shiro.

"Really, _such_ nice Quirks. Mine's better, though," Monoma drawled as his team backed up. However, Shiro pulled on the whip to keep him from moving any further as she looked at him pointedly.

"You copied all our Quirks, didn't you?"

The male gave her a smile of approval, though mockingly.

 _Monoma Neito, Quirk: Copy._

"That's right! You certainly don't seem as stupid as your friend over there, but when you associate with idiots, I see you really _do_ become slower. It really took you this long to figure it out?"

While Bakugou fumed in the background at his comment, Shiro's eyes narrowed. "First of all, he's probably smarter than you," she defended and swung at him with her right eye swirling. "But I still don't appreciate being lumped in the same category as him!"

 _"Now!"_

A white wall of wet glob suddenly shot out between her and Monoma. Thanks to her left eye, she dodge in time before any of it could get on her team or herself. However, Bakugou's team was not so lucky as some splashed on Kirishima's leg.

"Bondo!" Monoma greeted at the one who attacked. The muscular male with a glue dispenser-like head was from Team Kodai. "Picking a fight, huh?"

Rather than Bondo answering, his expressive classmate in the back of the team projected a bubble of speech that read _"We're here to take our points back!"_

"Monoma!" the blonde's teammate called out when he realized that Shiro had released her hold on the male's arm from Bondo's timely distraction. "We just have to keep from getting caught now! With this many points, we'll definitely stay in the top four!"

"After them!" Bakugou shouted.

"It's solidifying?!" Kirishima cried when his leg wouldn't budge from the ground.

"That's glue," Shiro told them before taking off after Monoma. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to get the points back, yours included!"

"Oi, like hell you will!" the blonde shouted after her. "Kirishima!"

"I can't move!"

"Wait a sec!" Mina stepped on the hardened glue on the redhead's foot. "I'll dissolve it with my Quirk!"

"Hurry!" Sero urged when he saw Shiro's team dashing behind Monoma. "We've got zero points right now!"

Hearing them struggle, Monoma had to twist his head around again to say something else. "Oh, don't get mad at me," he said while a small spark flashed from his palm to imitate Bakugou. "You're the one who provoked us, right? What did you say for the pledge again? That embarrassing thing... Let me think..."

 _"I'll be number one."_

"I think you're forgetting about someone here, prick!" Shiro shouted with a twitch from her eye. The grin on his face was just _asking_ to be wiped off.

"Oh, you're still here... It doesn't matter though. You've both done enough today."

 _"Three minutes left! Todoroki made it so he'd have the ten million to himself to seize in an instant!"_ Present Mic's voice boomed as he commentated on the other side of the field. _"At least that's what I thought five minutes ago! But unbelievably, Midoriya's been able to keep away in that cramped space for five minutes!"_

Shiro whipped her head towards the other side of the field where a ring of ice from Todoroki had secluded the two teams in. "We need to get those points back soon so we can get to Midoriya-san!" she ordered as they neared Monoma.

"Ah, we're at number two right now?" Monoma commented with a smile when he saw the leaderboard. "We might've done a little too well for ourselves. Anyway, focus on keeping that spot."

"'A little too well'?" Shiro echoed his offhanded drawl incredulously. What kind of attitude was that? Everyone was aiming for the top, for goodness sakes!

 _"Wait! I said wait!"_ Bakugou's voice could be heard from a distance away as they pulled further ahead.

"Honestly, your friend is so persistent," he sighed, his words addressing at Shiro as he completely disregarded what she said previously. That ticked her off. "As a hero, not to mention as a person, that persistence will—"

"Stop being so damn cocky!"

"Oi!" Shinso called after Shiro when she leaped over towards the other team. Likewise, seeing that the girl was getting ahead, Bakugou leaped as well.

"Don't act on your own, Bakugou!" Sero exclaimed exasperately.

In the air, Shiro was set on taking back her points, and most importantly, shutting Monoma up. Her leg aimed to make contact with the blonde at the same time as Bakugou when he blasted his way over. Monoma was visibly shocked as he ordered his teammate to guard him.

"Tsuburaba!"

The brunette under him drew in a giant gulp of air before blowing it at them, and they both collided into the invisible surface with a bang.

"What the—!"

"Hey!"

 _Tsuburaba Kosei, Quirk: Solid Air._

Shiro hung onto the top edge of the solid air barrier as Bakugou used his fist to smash at it. The barrier wasn't that big to begin with, and at the rate the blonde was going, the thing was going to break. But while he had Sero to bring him back, she didn't—

 _That's it!_ her lips quirked up as she prepared to jump. Her right eye spun as Bakugou's fist came close to the barrier and she pushed herself off into the air above both of them. Reaching down just as the solid air shattered, she grabbed at a headband.

"Not so fast!"

Bakugou's arm shot through the opening to take the points for himself. Since he was closer to Monoma, he ended up grabbing two while she looped a finger around the one on the top of the pile. Monoma raised his elbow in defense to guard the last two as Shiro and Bakugou recoiled back into the air. Then, thanks to her fast thinking, Shiro was also able to hitch a ride with Bakugou as she wrapped her whip around his torso while Sero pulled him back. When she neared Shinso and the rest, she snapped it back to let go and allowed her team to catch her from the air.

"Shoot!" Monona held onto the two remaining headbands on his neck possessively as his team started to run again. "Lose them! Hurry!"

 _"Team Bakugou seizes two headbands at once while Team Aisaka snags a big one! Team Bakugou moves to fourth place with 810 points and Team Aisaka moves back to second with 1185 points!"_

"Ha?!" Bakugou glared at the two in his hands while he was still being dragged back. They were the 420 and 390 ones, so that meant that Shiro got _his_ headband. _"Pigtails!"_

"I told you to say something when you're gonna jump!" Sero reprimanded as he landed back to his team. They were still a little behind the other two since Mina just managed to break Kirishima free from the glue.

"At least he got something! This means we'll get through to the next round—" Kirishima encouraged but the blonde was not having it. He slammed his fists down on the male's hardened head repeatedly. "Bakugou! What the hell—!"

"Not yet! We're gonna get an indisputable first place! I couldn't brace myself earlier on my own and Pigtails managed to get _our_ points..." he gritted his teeth. The thought of Shiro besting him _yet_ _again_ wasn't sitting well with him at all. "We're gonna get that back after getting the rest from that bastard! _Then_ we're not stopping until we get the 10 million!"

His teammates all sighed at his ambitions before grinning. They knew he'll really do just that.

"Geez... Tell us what to do then!" Kirishima prompted determinedly as he charged at full speed towards Monoma.

"Flat Face! Tape!"

"It's Sero!" Sero shouted before the white cellophane shot out ahead, missing Monoma's team by a hair purposely.

"Raccoon Eyes! Lay down a weak dissolving solution in the direction we're going!"

"My name's Ashido Mina!"

Meanwhile, when Shiro landed on top of her team, the weight of the force made Ojiro jolt out of his silent state.

"Huh...?" Ojiro looked around confusingly, unsure of why he was in this formation or why he was with Aoyama and the purple haired guy from earlier. One second he was looking for another team member and the next... "A-Aisaka-san! W-Why are you in your—?!" his sudden realization caused him to blush a crimson red matching her sports bra.

"You've been acting pretty weird until now," Aoyama turned to face him with his eyes sparkling in question. "Why is that?"

 _" _What's this?! Team Todoroki finally got Team Midoriya's 10 million! T_ he rankings keep changing during the final stage! It's the passion of youth!" _Present Mic's voice shouted overhead. _"There's only one minute left!"_

"...I don't know," he admitted, but he'll think about the consequences later. Right now, he at least can gather that Shiro needed his help since they were still in the middle of the game. "Aisaka-san! What do you need us to do?"

"That damn class 1-B prick..." Shiro was mumbling as she stared at the 665 on the headband with a stubborn pout. Tying it around her neck, she pointed at Monoma again with a look of resolve. "We're getting the remaining two headbands! Go!"

While he and Aoyama started to move, Shinso stayed still and unbudging.

"We don't need those," he stated when they stared at him in question. "We have enough even if Bakugou gets the other two. We'll still be at third place."

"Hey—" Ojiro furrowed his brows, but Shiro beat him to it.

" _What?_ Of course we do! Are you content with just third place?"

"Frankly, yes."

Shiro was not giving up despite his terse response. "There's a difference between those who are always aiming for the top and those who aren't, Shinso-san," she countered determinedly. She wasn't raised to give up so easily. Besides, she vowed to be better than everyone else and she was determined to make that a reality. _Especially since **he** claimed that I was in the way... Hell, I'll make sure to take that first place!_

"It doesn't matter if you're not in the hero course. This is _U.A._ and we go beyond the limits! Didn't you declare war on us? Then where's your _'Plus Ultra'?!_ "

Looking at the expression on her face, Shinso realized just how seriously she was taking this. It wasn't just simply about playing it safe; like her classmates, she was aiming for an indisputable first place.

 _This is what you mean when you said you will do better, huh?_

"Fine..." But Shinso knew Bakugou was going to reach Team Monoma first this time, and running after them would be fruitless. He may not be physically powerful, but what he lacked in raw strength, he made up for with calm and intelligence. His eyes shifted to the teams either stuck in ice or trying to pass through Todoroki's ice barrier as a last attempt to get the 10 million.

"I'll get you more points," he said definitely while the look on his face challenged Shiro's glare. "But you have to listen to me."

* * *

 _"Bakugou is merciless! If he's gonna do it, he's gonna be thorough! He's what you'd call a perfectionist! Team Bakugou is now in second place, followed by Team Aisaka and Team Tetsutetsu!"_

"Next!" Bakugou shouted after securing the two headbands he took from Monoma onto his neck. He turned towards Shiro; her team was headed to the ice barrier. "We're going to where Pigtails is going with our 665!"

 _Bakugou's heading our way!_ Shiro perceived as they stopped before the mountain of ice. Her left eye swirled as she concentrated on her three team members. "Hold on, I'll decreased the probability field around you all against—"

"Hold it right there!"

Tetsutetsu and his team suddenly jumped out of nowhere and intercepted their path. The gray haired male gritted his teeth with his face hardened to steel, "You class 1-A people think you can just fight it out within your own class without batting an eye at us?! Take this!"

"Oji—!"

"Got it!" Ojiro already turned his body so that his tail blocked the male's steel fist. Now that he wasn't under that weird senseless state, he was faster and could move on his own without direction. Team Tetsutetsu recoiled back a few feet to defend from the muscular tail but they were still determined.

"Thanks!" Shiro grinned as her right eye swirled at the opponent team. She signaled for her team to move towards the barrier and continue with the plan Shinso told her. "We're not ignoring you, Tetsutetsu-san. It's just that there's less than a minute left so we're aiming for the top!"

"Ha? Just how arrogant can you get?!" he also motioned for his team to charge after them.

"Get out of my way!" Bakugou shouted as his Quirk exploded in Tetsutetsu's face. "Pigtails is mine!"

"Shiozaki!"

"Forgive me for this," the cute girl with green vine-like hair in Tetsutetsu's team crooned humbly before multiple vines shot out from the ground around Bakugou's team, effectively building a wall to cage them in.

Going up ahead, the two teams then fought their way up. The trek was not easy for a single person to do, let alone a _team,_ but with the advantage of Ojiro's tail for grip and Shiro's decreased field of harm, they were able to make their way up faster. However, Tetsutetsu's team was close behind.

Given their proximity, Shinso grinned.

Meanwhile, Mina quickly worked to dissolve the vines with her acid, but there was just so many of them that it took time—time that they _didn't_ have. The other two teams were already getting across! Getting impatient, Bakugou stood up with fire in his eyes.

"YOU BASTARDS! GET BACK HERE!"

"Wait—are you going to jump again?!" Sero asked just as the blonde blasted his way out from the top. Tape immediately shot out from his elbow to follow. If their rider went over the barrier without them, they'll be disqualified! " _Bakugou!_ "

"Keep dispensing the tape and make it strong!" he ordered as he blasted his way up the ice. Multiple strips of tape shot over and wrapped around his torso when he landed at the top. He then used a hand to grab onto the icy tip and the other one forcefully pulled the tapes forward.

"Everyone grab onto Tape Arms!"

"I told you, my name is _Sero!_ " the male said as the entire team soared through the air.

 _"20 seconds left and three teams are scrambling over the ice to get to the 10 million!_ _Team Midoriya also made a grab for Team Todoroki in retribution... But he got the wrong headband?! He only has 125 points and that's not enough for the next round!"_

"OI, PIGTAILS!"

In a blink of an eye, it was like Team Tetsutetsu and Team Bakugou switched places; the former was curiously at the bottom of the barrier again while the latter was inching closer with Bakugou's palm popping with his explosions.

 _"15 seconds!"_

"Ojiro-san, defend!" Shiro shouted. "Aoyama-san, can you still shoot out your laser?" she asked through the loud clashes of tail and explosion. The male gave her a weak grin while trying to keep up with his dazzling appearance.

"O-Of course! I cannot stop twinkling after all!" he said determinedly.

"Then blast the biggest sparkle beam you can make at the ice when I say so, okay?"

 _"Ten seconds!"_

He quickly nodded and her right eye spun to calculate the best opening they have. There was only one chance from the limited time that they had and she was going to take it with everything they've got. Below, Tokoyami was attacking as Kaminari let out another one of his Indiscriminate Discharge, electrifying the entire area below. When Bakugou went in for another swipe, her eyes flashed.

 _"...Eight seconds!"_

"Everyone, jump!" she shouted as an explosion boomed at their right. In the air with her whole team, she then turned to the blonde. "Now, Aoyama-san!"

"S-Sparkle...!"

The blast from Aoyama's navel shot against the thick layer of ice and it propelled them at a straight line towards Todoroki. With the electric field subsided, Midoriya also ordered Tokoyami to advance towards the male again.

"Damn Pigtails! Deku!" Bakugou blasted closely behind with his explosion as the rest of his team slid down the inner edge of the barrier to follow.

 _"...Five!"_

"Bakugou! The time!" Kirishima shouted urgently.

"Ha?! Fine!" Forced to change plans because they were running short on time, Bakugou's eyes narrowed on the team with the 10 million. "Half and Half Bastard!"

 _"...Three!"_

Rooted to their spot because of Iida's Recipro Burst lag that initially got them the 10 million headband, the three teams closed in and Todoroki immediately ordered Momo to create a spear. To his right, Tokoyami's Dark Shadow shot towards him as Bakugou's explosions kept the male in the air, inching him closer. He turned towards them slightly and at his distraction, Shiro wrapped her whip at the tip of his spear and used it as an anchor as she jumped towards him to decrease the distance faster.

 _Aisaka...!_ He quickly encased the spear with ice and it traveled up the whip, threatening to freeze her arm since she cannot let go of the 'handle' that was Mineta's sphere.

All three reached forward at the same time and Todoroki braced himself for attack.

 _"TIME'S UP!"_

And just like that, everyone froze. Dark Shadow's claw stopped just inches from Todoroki's neck as Bakugou fell to the ground in midair. Shiro, in a more graceful manner, did the same with a wince. The entire stadium rumbled with the loudest cheers they've ever heard in a lifetime.

 _"That's the end of the second round, the cavalry battle!"_

Despite being faced down, everyone could see the anger emitting out of the blonde as he slammed his fists repeated on the ground.

"Aisaka-san!" Ojiro called when he and the rest caught up to where Shiro was. "Are you okay?"

"Hey," Shinso's voice was right behind her, but she was too busy kicking the ground harshly as a disappointed frown marred her face. She thought she had timed it well, but with so many things happening at once, she couldn't make it. _He got me with his ice **again**..._

 _"Now, let's take a look at the top four teams right away!"_ Present Mic concluded with his voice laced with thrill from watching the excitement unfold. He pointed to the leaderboard with an excited grin, _"In first place, Team Todoroki!"_

Momo let out a relieved sigh. "Even though we won, it felt like we were skating on thin ice," she said as Iida looked at her with an expression of guilt.

"Sorry... I caused everyone trouble because I couldn't move in the last seconds."

"That's not true! Without you, we would not have gotten the headband and won."

 _"In second place, Team Ba—"_ the Voice hero paused as he looked at the score again. _"It's actually Team Aisaka!"_

"WHAT?!" Bakugou jumped up at the demotion. He was the one who got the four headbands from that class 1-B bastard, so if they could do the math right, he should _at least_ be at second place with a few hundred points above Pigtails! His eyes shot over to the girl who was blinking equally with surprise.

"What...?" she was staring at the leaderboard. Yes, that was her team's name on the second place slot. _But how?_ The rest of her team also looked baffled, but Shinso was the only one with a bored look on his face. "Shinso-san?"

His left hand drew out of his pocket to reveal another headband. Her ruby eyes widened as he swirled the thin material around his finger, the number on it read _705_ —it was the points that Team Tetsutetsu started off with. "As promised, I got you more points."

She stepped towards the purple haired male with eyes that still showed a bit of disbelief. _How did he...?_

"You did say something about _'Plus Ultra',_ right?"

"...I did!" she answered as a grin stretched across her face.

However, Ojiro looked troubled as he stood at the sidelines. His tail was helping to steady Aoyama, whose face was contorted in discomfort as he leaned on the strong appendage. ' _Plus Ultra', huh?_

 _"Now, for real this time! In third place is Team Bakugou!"_

"Ah, we were so close!" Mina let out an tired breath as she shook her arms around. It was sore from holding onto Bakugou as well as constantly releasing out large amounts of acid because of the blonde's escapades. Sero simply shrugged.

"Well... Third place isn't too bad. All's well that ends well."

Kirishima stared at their team leader's fuming form before them with exasperation, "Do you really think that's how _he_ feels?"

"AGHHHHHH!"

On the other side of the third placed team, Midoriya was also shaking with regret.

Uraraka walked up to the male as Hatsume Mei took off the jet-pack from his back to fix the inside. "Deku-kun?"

"Um... I'm really sorry..." Midoriya turned to face the two girls sadly. It looked like his time at the festival ended here. He couldn't carry this team to victory after all... However, they just grinned and pointed to Tokoyami.

"Todoroki was clearly shaken by your first attack when you went to swipe for the headband. I had hoped to get the 10 million points, but things don't always go as you wish... But Team Aisaka isn't the only one with a surprise. I got one, too," the crow-headed male walked up to him with his eyes set pointedly. Dark Shadow slowly raised up from within him with a headband hanging from his beak. The number read _615_. "I took the one on Todoroki's head where his guard was the weakest. Midoriya, it was thanks to the opening you created with your last spurt."

That was enough to make the already emotional male cry.

 _"In fourth place, Team Midoriya!"_ Present Mic's voice rang through the stadium as he finished up. _"These four teams will advance to the final round!"_

At another deafening cheer sounding from the crowd, Todoroki stared at his left hand critically to think over what happened in the last few seconds. He knew his headband had been stolen, but only after the fact. He was just so stunned by the power that Midoriya emitted that he lost sight of his focus for that one second. It just felt so familiar—almost like the power he witnessed All Might used back at the USJ incident.

He had vowed to never use his left hand to attack, but in the face of such a powerful and overwhelming Quirk, the fire from his left arm had unconsciously released. Not only that, it was the first time he felt so forced to the edge. Midoriya aside... Bakugou and Shiro did their fair share of making him feel pressured.

"I can't... At this rate, I'll be doing what my old man wants..." he gripped his left hand into a tight fist. At least he was able to stop himself and only use his right for the remaining of the time. _My right..._

 _...Aisaka,_ his heterochromatic eyes widened slightly when he remembered that at the last second, he had released a blast at her. Drawing his eyes over across the field confirmed it. Although she was smiling, there was a wince of pain whenever she moved her right arm. It wasn't encased in ice, but he knew that she had some level of frostbite. _I should help her,_ he thought, but he was hesitant.

 _"...I won't assume to be your friend anymore..."_

What happened between them after the first round wasn't at all what he planned... He didn't know why he felt so uneasy hearing those words from her. When he told her to stay away, he was only thinking about proving his old man wrong without adding her into the crossfire. _I didn't mean..._ He found a deep desire to want to clear up the misunderstanding he placed between them.

 _"Now, we'll take an hour's break for lunch before we start the afternoon festivities! See ya!"_

Seeing that people were staring to disperse from the field at Present Mic's dismissal, Todoroki made up his mind and walked towards Shiro.

* * *

 **HEYA! I know a few of you wanted to see Shiro and Bakugou to team up and beat the crap out of Monoma, but staying true to Bakugou's personality and Shiro's stubbornness, they were never going to let that fly (directly, at least). They both came at Monoma for the points of course, but they're far too competitive to share the glory of beating Monoma. I hope that was still to your liking! Shiro ended up getting second place because what she said to Shinso really touched him, so I had to let him shine a lil (it happens in the anime anyway) and that was one of the only ways Team Midoriya could've secured fourth place in my version.**

 **Thanks for reading! Please consider leaving a review :)**


	13. Exception

**Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _exception_

.

.

.

"How disappointing..." Tsuyu fumed as she walked away from Mineta. She and Shoji were persuaded to join because his plan sounded like a good idea, but she should've known better than to trust his perverted intention back there that ultimately got their headband taken. Walking over towards some of her other classmates, her mouth quirked back up. "Mina-chan, congratulations."

The pink haired female rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Well, Bakugou just let me join to use against Todoroki's ice," she admitted. "So I don't know if it reflects my abilities..."

"Knowing Prickhead, he chose you because he knows you're strong. Don't worry about it, you did really well!" Shiro chimed in with encouragement. She held back the wince of pain when she moved her right arm while walking. Now that the adrenaline was gone, she was slowing starting to get chilly despite the fact that her arm was burning.

Mina gave her a smile, "Thanks, Shiro-chan. You did super well, too! Congratulations!"

"Iida-kun, I didn't know you had a special move like that! No fair!"

Behind them, Uraraka was imitating Iida's run. Like everyone else, she had been completely caught by surprise with his Recipro Burst move. The class representative waved a stiff hand side to side at her accusation.

"It has nothing to do with fairness! I just wasn't using it as intended."

Kaminari, with his brain fried for the time being from discharging large amounts of volts repeatedly, scooted towards them with two thumbs ups. Momo shook her head as she walked past, but stopped briefly to congratulate Shiro.

"Aisaka-san, I was honestly worried that you'd get our headband at that last second if time hadn't been called," she confessed with a hand at her heart. "Todoroki-san used his ice on you, didn't he? Are you okay?"

Shiro blinked at Momo's observant question. In truth, she wasn't okay. _Stupid frostbite. I need to get to Recovery Girl._

"Ye—"

"Aisaka," Todoroki was suddenly next to her with his usual serious expression on his face. Others around the girl wondered what he wanted since they've gotten the impression that he wasn't really known to speak to people unless he was trying to challenge them, like with Midoriya. "Come with me."

"What? Why?" she asked suspiciously but he wasn't taking no for an answer. Grabbing her left hand gently, he caught her by surprise as he pulled her away from the group. "T-Todoroki-san—wait!"

Watching them leave, the rest all had bewildered looks on their faces.

"What's up with them?" Mina asked curiously, her eyes never leaving their hands as she wiggled her brows. "Holding hands?"

"Could it be...?" Iida trailed off, his eyes widening.

However, Uraraka seem to know what was going on as she pumped her hands close to her chest. Since she saw them talking the last time, too, that had to be it.

"He must want to congratulate Shiro-chan," she said confidently. "But in private because he's shy!"

 _...Really?_ They all thought skeptically.

Back at the stadium, Endeavor had seen his son go after Shiro as they disappeared out the tunnel. He narrowed his blue eyes before leaving.

* * *

"Hold on, where are you taking me?"

Todoroki didn't answer her question as he continued to lead her towards the "faculty and student" entrance. After they were alone, he finally stopped but didn't let go of her hand.

"Todoroki-san? _Hello?_ "

He turned to face the confused and slightly irritated girl. "Give me your hand," he demanded. Her eyebrows shot up.

"Uh, but you already have my hand," Shiro deadpanned as her eyes bore into his larger one gently gripping her left wrist. She didn't know why he suddenly wanted to talk to her again, but if it was about leaving him alone then _he_ was the one who would be getting a lecture from her. More importantly though, she needed to get that superficial frostbite fixed before it seeped deeper into her skin. "Can you let go? I really need to—"

Todoroki only stepped towards her until her back hit the wall. She hitched a breath as he reached over to take her right arm from behind her back. Blinking, she watched with bewilderment as he examined the damage that his ice had done on the skin around her hand and forearm that was cold to the touch and deathly pale.

He hovered his left hand over the injury and Shiro immediately felt a warm sensation penetrate her irritated skin. The sphere stuck in her grip also thawed and the small ice crystals around her fingers melted right away. She then winced as a stinging pain quickly replaced the feeling but she allowed the male to continue. After he was done warming her skin, his heterochromatic eyes locked with her ruby ones.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Caught by surprise once again, Shiro took a few seconds before letting out a quiet response. "It's fine. I was the one who jumped out at you. It's only natural to guard yourself."

"No, I'm not sorry about that," he said again, but then quickly rephrased it when she gave him an incredulous stare. Was he always this bad at wording things? He made a note to fix that around her. "I mean I am, but that's not what I'm talking about."

"Then what _are_ you talking about?" she drew impatiently.

"It's about what I said to you after the obstacle race."

"Oh," she blinked. _He's really here to apologize?_

"I still meant what I said about defeating Midoriya. He's strong in a way that I even felt overpowered... So much so that I broke my pledge," Todoroki paused as he stared at his right hand. "But that's a conversation I will have with him, not you. What I really wanted to say to you is that while I don't feel the same overwhelming power from you, I hate that I still have to be cautious around you because you're _unpredictable_. It's a strength that you have that greatly impedes the goal I'm trying to achieve, so I was angry."

 _I never would have expected that..._ Shiro thought with wide eyes. She had been mad when he first told her to basically screw off, but when he put it in this way, it made her sound like a force he had a hard time competing with. _Todoroki holds me in this high of a regard...?_

"I'm sure you know by now that Endeavor's my old man, right?"

From her silent nod, he continued.

"Since he's been stuck as the number two hero for forever, he's here today to see that I rise to the top. It's annoying... But to prove to him that he can't control me, I will rise to the top with only my right side. I'll make him see that I don't need _his_ power."

Silence passed between them as the stone cold expression stayed on Todoroki's face once he finished his explanation. Finally, Shiro sighed and pushed herself off the wall she was forced to lean on when he cornered her. He didn't make a move to step back and she found herself awkwardly close to his body as he stared at her. He seemed unbothered so she stepped back again to pretend to clear her throat and dispel her one-sided embarrassment.

Todoroki snapped back to reality. Had he been staring at her cute face for too long?

 _...Cute?_

Well, he wasn't going to disagree with that notion.

"Anyway, so, you keep talking about his power... Is it really, though?" she asked and grew serious. "I didn't say this back then when I asked about your reason to become a hero, but I feel like I should say it after all."

He raised a brow at that, "What do you mean?"

"See, our reasons of becoming a hero are exactly the opposite. I look up to someone and you want to look down or reject someone—whatever it is," she shrugged but kept her gaze on him. "However, does it really matter? Like I've told you before... We're our own person at the end of the day."

Her brilliant ruby eyes locked with his mismatched ones in a serious stare-down while Todoroki found himself completely captivated again. He always found himself admitting a lot of things whenever he was with her; she just had that effect on people because she always spoke up for what she believes is right. It was hard to wrap his head around the unpredictable girl...

Shiro then finally set a free hand on his shoulder before stepping past to walk towards the exit where everyone else was heading for the lunch room.

"Come on, you can think about it while we get lunch... I'm super hungry."

That broke him away from his trance and he found himself following behind. She seemed to be less guarded around him again, did that mean she forgave him for what he said? "Aisaka!" he called after her, making her turn her neck around to look at him. "One last thing..."

"What is it?" she tilted her head.

He stepped up next to her, but kept his gaze in front of him so she wouldn't see the expression on his face. He was slightly embarrassed.

"It's okay to assume to be my friend... If it's you."

* * *

Bakugou pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against around the dark corner of the entrance tunnel. _Tch, why am I always listening to them like a damn third wheel..._ He had intended on giving Shiro a piece of his mind for swiping a higher ranking than him for the second time in a row when Todoroki got to her first and dared to pull her away.

Naturally, he had to follow.

His second intention was to give that Half and Half a piece of his mind, anyway, since he challenged the shitty curly haired male instead of him. It was as if they all felt that he wasn't a formidable competitor or something—they all keep ignoring him!

 _Him_ , the one who will be number one. The _best_.

But listening to Shiro's and Todoroki's conversation all the way to the end, he felt another sort of anger in his chest. He didn't know what it was, but he sure as hell didn't like it.

* * *

Shiro was content as she ate a wholesome lunch and replenished her energy during break. The pain on her right hand and forearm was also gone, thanks to Todoroki. She wondered if he had went to talk to Midoriya like he said he would during lunch... She didn't know because she had chosen to eat in the faculty room with Aizawa, who was curled up in his yellow sleeping bag with his bandaged face peeking out the opening.

Despite some mishaps—namely, her unusable right hand thanks to Mineta's Quirk—she managed to pick up her food with stabbing motions. It was easy when she visualized the food as Mineta's face.

"I can't believe this is still stuck on me," she pouted angrily at the offensive purple sphere. She's managed to cover the rest of the surface of the ball with extra fiber from her shirt so that it wouldn't accidentally stick to other parts of her or something else, but it was still annoying. "My rewrite on it didn't even work. Could Mineta-san actually be _this_ strong?"

While still keeping his eyes closed, Aizawa answered the girl's complaints. "Quirks are an extension of oneself. For your reality rewrite to work, you have to make contact with the source. Mineta himself is the source, not his sphere."

 _Eh, but that means to get rid of the adhesiveness faster, I'll have to touch him...?_ Shiro thought with furrowed brows. She wasn't five, so it wasn't that she was scared to catch germs from the boy... It was just that he might _enjoy it_ too much and she wasn't going to give him another satisfaction for the day.

"No thanks," she replied definitely. "I'll keep this on me for the time being. It's actually been pretty useful, and this way I can bypass the petition for using an equipment!"

"...I guess that's within the regulations of exceptional circumstances."

Looking at the time, she noticed that break was almost over. She tried to pick up the tray that held all of the empty dishes with a bit of a challenge since her right hand was occupied. It was much easier for her earlier since she had the tray handed to her first.

"I'll take care of it. Go meet up with the rest of the class," Aizawa muttered without a hint of opening his tired eyes. "The tournament drawing is starting soon... I'll be looking forward to your matches, Shiro."

 _He said match **es**... _Feeling the overwhelmingly happy smile that was usually reserved for the rational hero stretch across her face, she nodded eagerly.

"I won't disappoint you, Eraserhead!"

Aizawa nodded. _I know you won't._

* * *

 _"Now that lunch is over, it's finally time to reveal the last game!"_ Present Mic announced as the crowd cheered. _"But before that, there's good news for all of you who didn't make it to the finals! This is just a sports festival, so we've prepared recreational games that everyone can participate in, too! We've even brought real cheerleaders from America to liven things up!"_

Shiro caught sight of forest green hair and ran towards the familiar girl as the light from outside shone before her eyes. "Tsu..." her words trailed off as she was finally able to focus at what the girl was wearing before her eyes.

Actually, what were _all_ of her female classmates wearing?

 _"What are they doing?"_ Aizawa's voice questioned from the announcement cube. Likewise, the Voice hero also leaned over with a completely baffled gaze.

 _"What's the matter, class 1-A? What kind of fan service is that?"_

"What...?" Shiro blinked wildly at her classmates' uniforms that matched the American cheerleaders. She was feeling embarrassed _for_ them! "What in the _world_ are you guys wearing?"

None of them looked too happy to be wearing such a thing, either. They all had grim looks and dark shadows casted over their eyes. Jiro, with a red face, gave Shiro a taut look.

"Despite the fact that you're not wearing this ridiculous thing, what you have on isn't much different," she said before throwing her yellow pompoms down in a huff. "I knew I shouldn't have believed this. Those guys are so dumb!"

Shiro blushed as she realized that she was still in her sports bra since no one said anything to her about it during lunch. Aizawa was never one to care about clothing, anyway, and he was probably too sleepy to notice.

"Mineta-san! Kaminari-san! You tricked us didn't you?!"

The two males responsible for this looked way too pleased as they stood a distance away. Kaminari and Mineta gave each other thumbs ups; today was truly a blissful day! Even though they didn't get to see Shiro in a short skirt also, the Gods were obviously at their side since the girl hadn't put a shirt back on, thus still exposing her midsection like the rest.

Being the only one unaffected by this ordeal, Hagakure raised her poms in the air. "Well, there's still time before the finals, and it'll be a pain if things got tense," she said before waving them more energetically. "It's fine! Let's do it!"

"Toru-chan, you like this, huh?" Tsuyu remarked.

Momo dropped to the ground with a defeated sigh. "Why am I always caught up in Mineta-san's schemes? I even used Creation to make the outfits..."

Shiro, after hearing those words, kneeled down to the girl with a completely serious face.

"Yaoyorozu-san, do you think you can use Creation to make me a new gym shirt?"

* * *

Shiro was looking around for her cavalry battle teammates in the crowd as they gathered by Midnight for her final round match placements. She realized that she never got to properly thank them for their hard work. Without them, she wouldn't have been able to rank this high. She saw Ojiro's tail peeking out close by and she was going to get to him when Bakugou stepped in her way and decided to stay there.

"Prickhead," she addressed with a glare. "You really have no manners."

"Fuck off," he replied, shoving his hands in his pocket as his red eyes narrowed at her. "Why aren't you wearing the same shitty outfits like the rest of them?"

She raised her brow up incredulously at his question. Since there wasn't enough time for Momo to make her a shirt, she was still in the red sports bra until the recreational events starts and she could go find a new shirt.

"Do you _want_ me to wear what they're wearing?"

He visibly recoiled back with both disgust and embarrassment, "I didn't fucking say that!"

"Now, let's draw lots to determine the bracket," the R Rated hero picked up the yellow box of lots as she looked over all of the first-year students. "Once the bracket is determined, we'll have the recreational games and then start! The 16 finalists can choose whether or not they want to participate in the recreation. I'm sure some of you want to rest or save your strength. Oh, before I forget, there's actually one finalist who cannot join us this afternoon."

Murmurs of _"what?"_ and _"who?"_ piped within the crowd before Midnight slapped her flogger down to silence them.

"Aoyama Yuga cannot participate because of his stomach condition. He is resting up in Recovery Girl's office right now," she revealed as Shiro felt a sense of guilt wash over her.

She realized it was partially her fault that he was in that state. When she had asked him if he was able to use his Quirk that last few seconds, she didn't even think to consider that he was already at his limit. If she had just been a little more observant of her own teammates, she would've known that he was only bluffing when he said he could still do it. But she was too focused on trying to win.

"Seeing that this will leave us with one participant short, we'll have to—"

"Um...! Excuse me," Ojiro suddenly raised his hand before the hero could finish. "I'm withdrawing."

Everyone gasped as they turned to the male. While Aoyama's withdrawal was necessary because of his condition, Ojiro looked fine and there should be no reason why he would want to back out of this once-in-a-year chance! Shiro was the most vocal since she already had one teammate withdrawal.

"You're joking around, right? You can't mean that, Ojiro-san..."

He could barely hold his gaze with her shocked ones as he looked to the ground with a troubled expression. "The truth is, I barely remember anything from the cavalry battle until almost the end. I think it was that guy's Quirk," he revealed and Shiro looked at the last person who was on her team. Shinso caught her stare and he looked away immediately.

 _Shinso...? I don't understand..._ Her eyes widened slightly when she remembered what she felt during the middle of the game when he was trying to calm her down after Monoma had provoked her. _That moment of feeling completely blank...!_

"I know that this is a great chance and that it's foolish to waste it..." Ojiro gripped his fist tightly. "But everyone here competed by giving their all! I can't... I can't be up there with everyone without knowing what really happened."

"You're worrying too much about it!" Hagakure waved her arms around in the back. "You should just make sure you produce results in the finals!" Agreeing with the invisible girl's words, Shiro pushed her way over to him with a disapproving pout.

"Even if you didn't know what happened in the beginning, you were there at the end! We couldn't have made it without you!" she insisted, but he gritted his teeth as he covered his face.

"That's just it..." he said, shaking with emotion. "You told me before that the second round will be my chance to improve. But... Even if I made it through, I don't even know what I did for the majority of the time! How can you call that 'improvement'?"

"But—"

"I'm talking about my pride here... I can't..."

 _Ojiro..._ If it really was his wish to withdrawal, then she couldn't stop him. It wouldn't be right to keep insisting him to reconsider when it damaged his pride this much. _He truly is a good person to the heart..._ Shiro drew in a deep breath before frowning sadly.

"I'm sorry," she said, but he still couldn't face her. It made her heart drop. "It's understandable that you can't even look at me right now. I'm so stupid... For not realizing what was happening with you."

"No, it's not that..." Ojiro's reply came out as a soft muffle.

"Then why...?"

"It feels wrong to look at you when you're only wearing... _That_... Plus I don't know why everyone else is wearing cheerleader outfits..."

Shiro blinked back her embarrassment while the rest of the girls didn't know how to respond. Meanwhile, Kirishima gripped his fists tightly as the male's words drew him to tears. "What's with him?! He's so manly!"

 _"This is an unusual turn of events..."_ Present Mic's voice projected through the speakers softly. Next to him, Aizawa nodded.

 _"We'll have to see what the chief umpire, Midnight, has to say about this."_

Silence passed through the crowd as they all looked up at the R Rated hero for her final decision. She looked to be deep in thought for a few moments before opening her mouth to speak. "Youthful talk like that is something..." she said seriously before an excited grin made its way to her face, "...I like! Ojiro-kun! I accept your withdrawal!"

 _She decided based on her tastes...!_ they thought simultaneously.

"In that case, we'll have to move up two people from the fifth place cavalry battle team..."

Kendo Itsuka from class 1-B then raised her hand at the new information. She was the fifth place's team captain. "If that's what's going to happen, then rather than us, who barely did anything during the cavalry battle, it should be _them_ , right?" she faced her team for approval and they all nodded. "The ones who fought to the end and stayed in the top—Team Tetsutetsu."

The gray haired male looked shocked, "Kendo!"

"This isn't just collusion or anything. It just makes sense," Kendo shrugged good naturedly. "You guys were fighting your way to the top with Team Aisaka and Team Bakugou, right?"

"Y-You guys...!"

"And so, Tetsutetsu and Shiozaki have moved up to make 16 finalists," Midnight announced after they picked out who within the team will advance and she drew the lots to match people up. She pointed to the screen up ahead when she was finished, "This is the bracket based on the results of the drawing!"

 _ **First round:**_

 _1\. Midoriya vs Kaminari_

 _2\. Todoroki vs Sero_

 _3\. Iida vs Hatsume_

 _4\. Tokoyami vs Yaoyorozu_

 _5._ _Ashido vs Shiozaki_

 _6._ _Aisaka vs Shinso_

 _7\. Kirishima vs Tetsutetsu_

 _8\. Uraraka vs Bakugou_

Shiro searched for her match-up on the screen and her ruby eyes shot up in surprise. She immediately whipped her head towards her opponent's direction. This time, he didn't look away.

She had liked him up until she found out about his actions that had ultimately forced someone as earnest as Ojiro to withdrawal. She didn't believe he was evil, but what exactly was he getting at?

 _Shinso... Just who are you?_

The purple haired male walked up to her with a curious stare. "Looking forward to our match."

* * *

Closed off in a small, cluttered room, Shigaraki Tomura watched U.A.'s sports festival with a look of abhorrence. It was almost time for the one-on-one, and he had been paying special attention to two people throughout the festival who have made it to the final round. His hands came up to scratch at his neck.

One of them was Midoriya Izuku, the brat with a similar power to All Might, who was the face of the nonsense that is _justice_ and the Symbol of Peace for this superpowered world.

The other one was Aisaka Shiragiku. With venom building up at the tip of his tongue, he started to scratch his neck more obsessively as he uttered at the television screen. The same ruby eyes seemingly stared back at him.

"Watch carefully and prepare, Shigaraki Tomura," a low voice behind him said. "They may become obstacles to you one day."

That only made him scratch at his neck even more. "That's a load of crap," he spat.

The world is unjust, no matter what that trashy excuse of a hero All Might made society to believe. Shigaraki _knew_. His mission was to make the world understand what he knew by taking the hero down... And he was going to make those kids go down with him. Although he's never disclosed his exact relation with _her_ to his master, he was determined take care of the matter all on his own... Even if it seemed like she forgot all about his existence.

 _How could you, **imouto**...?_


	14. Round One

**Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _round one_

.

.

.

 _"All right! Let's leave the tournament aside for a momentary interlude!"_ Fireworks immediately started to explode in the air as the hero announced what was next on the agenda and the crowd cheered. _"Let's have fun with the recreation! First is the scavenger hunt!"_

While some of the finalists chose to join in on the fun to shake off their nerves, some of them left to deal in their own ways for the upcoming tournament. They all knew down in their hearts that the tournament was no relaxing matter; some felt it was necessary to polish their strategies against their opponent or sharpen their senses, while others wanted to keep their presence of mind or physically prepare themselves for the fight.

For Shiro, there was something else she needed to do before she could even think about preparing for her match. Recovery Girl's soft voice answered on the other side of the "Temporary Nurse's Office" when she knocked and she pushed open the large door. The hero turned her chair towards her.

"Aisaka? Do you need something?"

"I'm here to see Aoyama-san, if that's okay," she replied. "Is he doing alright?"

"Ah, yes. His stomach collapsed from focusing too much energy only in that area, but I fixed him up and he's recovering just fine," the hero said before letting out a short sigh. "Class 1-A has a streak of sending people to my office, it seems. You guys are such spirited kids."

Shiro rubbed her head, not sure if that was a compliment or not. However, the hero allowed her inside. She walked over to the bed where the blonde was sleeping with a guilty look on her face.

"Aoyama-san..."

There was no movement from the male and she sighed softly.

"I know you can't hear this because you're resting, but maybe it's better this way for now. I actually don't know how to say this to you when you're awake 'cause it's kind of embarrassing... You're actually really strong... 'Cause, um, to be completely honest... I used to think that you were a little..." she trailed off and felt her left eye twitch slightly at the all-too-obvious way that the blonde was twinkling despite being _asleep_.

"...Aoyama-san! Are you really _pretending_ to be asleep?!"

His one eye peeked open briefly before immediately closing it like a five-year-old would when they tried to trick their parents at night. "I cannot stop twinkling even in my sleep," he insisted before a stagnant silence passed between them. He peeked his eye open again for emphasis, "Well? Continue with all the good things you were going to say about me. Go on."

 _He's right back to it in true Aoyama style..._ she thought with a slightly flustered look since she was basically feeding him praises and he was actually awake to eat it all up. However, she decided to allow him to do so, just this once, because he fully deserved it.

"I guess I was just gonna say... Thanks for never stopping your sparkle and pushing us through the cavalry battle. You shined the brighest."

 _"Merci!_ Of course, it comes naturally to me."

"Yeah," she rolled her eyes but grinned. "I bet."

Both of the felt a lot better after that. For Aoyama, it was because he was praised so wonderfully. It wasn't obvious by the way he acted around his classmates, but he deeply respected them and their strengths and was happy that he was acknowledged for once. For Shiro, it was because the male's positive attitude alleviated some of the guilt in her heart. Teaming up with Aoyama today and seeing his true strength really gave her a different prespective of him.

 _Knock knock._

"Excuse me."

Turning their heads towards the door from the newcomer's voice, Shiro saw Ojiro peeking his head through the doorway.

"Hey Aoyama-san, I'm glad to see that you're feeling better. I'm sorry if this isn't a good time but..." he said before giving Shiro an urgent look. It seemed as if he had been looking for her. "Aisaka-san, I need to talk to you."

* * *

"A Quirk that can control people?"

"Yeah. He probably wanted to use me to get on our team," Ojiro said, his voice taut and serious. "After I answered his question, my mind became foggy and I was under his control. I'm sorry that I let this happen—"

"It's not your fault because you didn't know," Shiro interrupted immediately. Her brows furrowed, "If anything, I should be sorry. Actually, I think he used it on me, too, during the game when I got angry at Monoma-san. I can't believe I didn't know it then... I was too careless and only set on trying to win."

Ojiro also furrowed his brows in thought. "He used it on you, but only briefly? I wonder what his motivation was... Wouldn't it be easier to use it on all of us for the entire time?"

Shiro nodded, having originally wondered that as well. But thinking back to the events leading up to the start of the game, she had an inkling of why Shinso didn't use his Quirk on her or Aoyama. "I think he was intending to if I had refused him on the team. Maybe he felt the need to use his Quirk only because he thought that we wouldn't be accepting of him since he did declare war on our class."

"But joining us like this... Is this what he means by sweeping our feet from under us?"

 _"Depending on the results of the sports festival, they'll consider our transfer into the hero course. And it seems they may also transfer people out... If you get too carried away, I'll sweep your feet out from under you."_

Remembering the declaration made Shiro feel torn. She felt that what Shinso did wasn't fair to Ojiro because he was such an upright and prideful individual. However, she knew she couldn't fault Shinso completely for doing whatever it takes to be transferred, even if she considered Ojiro an important friend. _Everyone is aiming for the top..._ The only way to become a certified hero from U.A. is if you're enrolled in the hero course, after all, and... _There's just no other way to use his Quirk._

"In any case, you have to be careful when you go up against him later," the blonde revealed, breaking her out of her thoughts. "Avoid answering him at all costs. I think that's how his Quirk works."

Shiro acknowledged his warning with a nod. "You said you regained your sense of self towards the end. How did you do it?" she asked. "Did he release his Quirk?"

"Actually, it was thanks to you..."

"Eh?"

Ojiro scratched the side of his cheek, "When you fell back on us, I snapped out of it. I remember what happened clearly after that..." As he said that, pink tinting his cheeks. Indeed, he even remembered the double-take he did when he saw what she was wearing, or rather what she _wasn't_. "It's likely that receiving shock can get rid of his control. I'm not sure what level of shock you need though, and in a one-on-one match, you can't count on outside forces like that. Maybe there's another way to override it, but that's about all I know. I'm sorry..."

"No, that was really helpful!" Shiro said as she stood up from her chair. Her eyes shone with determination as she tried to formulate a plan on what she could do to overcome Shinso's Quirk."I still really wish that you could join us for the finals, but..." she gave him a sad smile. "Thank you, Ojiro-san. I'll do my best."

"I'm going to say something selfish..." Ojiro said as he looked both flustered and touched by her words. He took her hand in his urgently, "But please do your best for me, too."

She nodded and lightly squeezed back.

"Definitely."

* * *

With the recreational games coming to an end, it was time for the final one-on-one tournaments to begin.

Shiro made her way to the reserved seats for the U.A. classes in the stadium with Ojiro to watch the first few matches before it was her turn. Finding the section for class 1-A, she looked for Uraraka and Iida, who have likely saved her a seat. Cementoss was down in the field getting the tournament stage ready with his cement Quirk, and everyone was waiting with anticipation.

 _"Hey guys, are you ready?!"_ Present Mic asked with full energy. Everyone in the crowd shouted back their cheers and chants. _"A lot's happened, but it's now come to this! A serious battle were you can only depend on yourself! Even if you're not a hero, you'll face lots of situations like that!"_

"The first match is with Deku-kun!" Uraraka said as Shiro took a seat next to her. The girl was barely able to contain her antsy excitement. "I'm so pumped!"

Iida fixed his glasses as he stared at her from the other side. "Uraraka-kun, are you that excited to cheer for Midoriya-kun?"

"Deku-kun is our friend, so of course! Aren't you cheering for him?"

"Yes, but he is going against Kaminari-kun, who is also our classmate. As the class president, I cannot show bias!" he insisted, however his face said differently. Of course he was cheering for the curly haired boy. "Shiro-kun, who do you want to win?"

"The one that does their best," Shiro replied. She was all for being objective and non-biased during these situations, a trait that she picked up from the rational hero. The rest gave her vague answer an exasperated sigh before turning their gaze back to the event. Down below, Cementoss had finished making the stage and signaled for Present Mic. Without delay, the Voice hero immediately announced for the start of the tournament.

 _"The finals that you've all been waiting for are finally starting! Match number one—"_

The screen above the announcement cube flashed as a snapshot taken from the entrance of the tunnel popped up with the first two finalists and their names below. They could all _feel_ the nervousness from Midoriya emitting from both the picture and as he walked out.

 _"Even though he's done well, what's with that face? From the hero course, it's Midoriya Izuku! Versus—also from the hero course, it's the Sparking Killing Boy, Kaminari Denki! Let's make this first match go_ _out with a bang, yeah!"_

The two opponents stepped into the tournament ring as the hero continued energetically.

 _"The rules are simple. Force your opponents out of bounds, or immobilize them! You can also win by making your opponents say 'I give up'! Bring on your injuries because we've got our very own Recovery Girl waiting on standby! Put your morals and ethics aside for a moment—but of course, anything life-threatening is not allowed and will get you thrown out! Heroes should only use their fists to catch villains! Now, ARE YOU READY...?"_

Kaminari and Midoriya immediately got into a battle stance, with the former more confident than the latter. They were both strong individuals who can release an immense amount of power within seconds, so it came down to the first punch.

 _"Start!"_

"Sorry, but this match'll be determined in a second!" Kaminari said as large waves of electricity coursed throughout his body with a dangerous yellow glow. He was not taking any chances against the curly haired male because he knew if he stalled, a punch from Midoriya could land him across the stage in an instant.

On the other side, Midoriya had thought that his opponent might use his electricity discharge to cover the area, but he didn't expect the blonde to release one of his high voltage electrocution right from the beginning. He had no idea what he could do to block it; without Tokoyami's Dark Shadow, he was like a sitting duck!

But he couldn't lose here! Everyone was watching! _All Might_ was watching!

"Indiscriminate Shock... 1.3 Million Volts!"

 _I can't hit him, but I still need to move away..._ Midoriya let One For All's power activate through three of his fingers because from experience, he knew that two couldn't give him the height that he needed on a hard surface like cement. _I only have one chance...!_

As soon as Kaminari forced his palms down towards the ground to release all 1.3 million volts, Midoriya ran and jumped as high as he could before flicking his three fingers on the ground. The volts blasted across the stage with high velocity and power, but the force of his One For All effectively blew him up high enough from the voltage zone to keep from getting shocked. He knew it was going to be a rough way down, but he didn't have to worry about that as the blonde short-circuited from exceeding his wattage limit.

Falling towards the hard cement floor, the curly haired male managed to catch himself enough to not break his legs. He ran towards the confused and currently very mindless blonde and pushed him out of bounds.

 _"It was decided in an instant! I'll say it once more! An instant!"_

"Man, he did that cool move again! Even though he was scared! Again!" Mineta said as the crowd around him cheered loudly. Tsuyu tipped her finger against her mouth as she remembered what the boy was talking about.

"Midoriya-chan did the same thing during USJ, huh?"

 _Using his power on part of his body like at the fitness test and knowing the amount of force behind the portion of power it can discharge... Rather than calling it the best use of his experience, it's like he's using any experience he can to force the flow to change in his favor,_ Aizawa thought as he watched the boy carefully.

 _"Yahoo!"_ Present Mic threw up his arms from the screen. _"The first person to advance to the second round in the finals is Midoriya Izuku from class 1-A!"_

Jiro almost couldn't contain her laughter as she watched the blonde shuffled his way off the stage with that stupefied look on his face. Although both of them were her classmates, she was rooting for Midoriya only because Kaminari pulled that stunt on the girls with Mineta. "Serves him right," she snorted.

Sitting just in front of the Earphone Jack user, Shiro cheered for the boy along with a more vocal Uraraka and a conflicted Iida. She was suprised that Midoriya had chosen to injure himself in order to evade Kaminari's volts. The aftershock from his own Quirk was _that_ powerful to blow him that high in the air. It was ingenious in a way when he was cornered...

 _Though, if I had a choice, I'd definitely make it less painful,_ she pondered thoughtfully.

* * *

At the announcement of the first winner, Todoroki got up from the player waiting room and got ready to go into his own match. _Midoriya won, huh?_ He turned around the corner and stopped, lips turning down into an even deeper frown at the person who was waiting for him up ahead.

"You're in my way."

Endeavor, with the flame ignited around him from his Quirk, stared back at his son with narrowed eyes.

"You're acting disgracefully, Shoto," the hero responded as the boy started to walk towards him. "If you used the power on your left side, you would've had an overwhelming victory in the obstacle course and the cavalry battle."

His words were ignored as Todoroki stepped past him.

"Stop this childish rebellion already. You have a duty to surpass All Might. Do you understand? You're different from your siblings. You are the greatest masterpiece!"

Gritting his teeth, Todoroki kept walking as he finally spoke up. "Is that all you can say, bastard? I will win and advance with just Mother's power. I won't use your power when I fight."

"You're making a foolish mistake to waste the tremendous power on your left side, Shoto. You waste such a power on thawing the opponents you freeze. What is it? Do you feel bad?" That managed to get the boy to pause, but he kept himself from blowing up at Endeavor. However, it just prompted the Flame Hero to continue.

"Even if it works for now, you'll soon reach the limits of that power."

As Todoroki finally walked out of earshot from his father, he wasn't just angry. He was absolutely livid.

* * *

 _"Thanks for waiting! Next up is... These guys!"_

The screen displayed the pictures of both Todoroki and Sero as they walked into the stadium and up the stairs of the tournament ring. Midoriya also returned at this time from Recovery Girl for his broken fingers and joined Shiro and the others in the front row. He watched as both of the players got ready while Present Mic continued his short introduction for Sero and then Todoroki.

 _"First up! He's good, but what's with that plainness he just can't get rid of? From the hero course, it's Sero Hanta!"_

Shiro raised her brows at the hero's harsh introduction for the Tape Quirk user. However, it wasn't necessary untrue. _Especially when you're up against someone like Todoroki..._

 _"Versus—taking third, then first in the prelims! You're way too strong, kid! He wasn't recommended for admission for nothing! Also from the hero course, it's Todoroki Shoto!"_

With a match that included a recommended student who was also the son of the second ranked hero of all time, everyone was paying close attention. But Shiro noticed there was something off about the bicolor haired male at the moment. It wasn't like he would walk into the match with a smiling face, but his head was just lowered in a way that she couldn't see any type of expression. That could either mean that he was sad or angry, and she doubted it was the former at the moment.

 _"And now, for the second match of the finals! Ready..."_

She watched as Sero stretched his arms and cracked his neck at the hero's countdown. He seemed to accept that he may not stand a chance against someone as overpowering as Todoroki, and plus that introduction by Present Mic was a total downer, but...

 _"Start!"_

He immediately shot out multiple strips of tape from both of his arms and grabbed ahold of his opponent right away. Shiro widened her eyes at how fast _Sero_ was and more curiously, how slow _Todoroki_ was to react to that.

 _What is he up to? He was able to dodge the majority of my attacks with no problem before!_

Sero used the arm that was still attached to the tape around Todoroki's bounded body and swung it heavily. His attack was quick and concise, aiming to push his opponent out of bounds right away, and Shiro had to agree that it was the best choice that the male could make in a situation like this. Todoroki was getting increasingly close to the white line and she wondered if the match will really end here.

 _No..._ And she knew it wouldn't.

Todoroki gained footing at the right moment and ice rapidly formed under his feet. It took less than a second for him to overtake the Tape Quirk user, but that wasn't all. The whole stadium jolted with a boom and Shiro inhaled sharply as the underside of the colossal iceberg blocked off nearly half of the stadium. The entire stadium fell into a deathly silence after that.

From the outside looking in, the ice was so large that it spilled over and looked like dangerous spikes.

"Don't... Don't you think that's a bit much?" Sero chattered his teeth as he was frozen on the spot. On the referee stand, half of Midnight's body was also caught in the freeze.

"Sero-kun, can you move?"

"O-Of course not... Ow..."

"Sero-kun is immobilized! Todoroki-kun advances to the second round!" the hero announced.

Too shocked to cheer for the winner, and seeing that it was hardly the right response for his opponent's dignity, a Pro Hero who felt bad started to chant an encouragement for Sero.

 _"DON'T MIND!"_

Immediately, more followed.

 _"DON'T MIND! DON'T MIND!"_

As Todoroki walked up to Sero to thaw the ice that he created, Shiro finally was able to see the expression on his face and was surprised again.

He looked really sad.

* * *

It took a while for all of the ice to be removed from the stadium, but after it did, the tournament was back on track. The following matches couldn't compare to Todoroki's match, but everyone watched with a renewed appreciation for the following battles that showed off each students' Quirks in a less-intimidating way.

The match between Iida and Hatsume ended up taking almost 15 minutes because the support course girl had used Iida to showcase all of her wonderful "babies" aimed at the support companies. Needless to say, the girl was good at hard selling... And after all of her babies were extensively presented, she voluntarily walked out of the ring. It was quite unfair to the earnest male to be played a fool and then given an automatic win, but Hatsume really had no interest for the tournament.

Contrasting the third match, the fourth match ended within a minute of it beginning. Because Creation takes a longer period of time to make more elaborate and stronger weapons, Momo was no match up against Tokoyami's swift and powerful attacks. He didn't even move from his spot as Dark Shadow's reach was able to push Momo out of bounds.

Now in the player waiting room on standby during the fifth match, Shiro had some time to think about what she was going to do for her own match. After everything that Ojiro told her and even experiencing her soon-to-be opponent's Quirk herself, she knew that she had to end the match swiftly to avoid talking to Shinso.

Once she answers him, it was game over for her.

 _I think there's one thing I can do, but... Can I really pull it off?_ she wondered.

The door to the waiting room opened and she turned to see that Uraraka had come to join her. "Hey, Urara—" Shiro blinked a few times at the tight look on the girl's face. "Your brows!"

"My brow?" she answered with the same cheerful tone, but her brows were brows were furrowed so far that it was almost connecting as one. Since she had that look, the way she walked up to take a seat looked like she was on a prowl. The girl then rubbed the back of her head as she tired to relax her face a little more. "Oh, it's just my nerves... Must've reached my brow."

 _She's more nervous than I am, yet I'm the one going next!_ Shiro thought before feeling a wave of empathy for her friend's emotional state. "Your match is with Bakugou, huh?"

"Yeah. Bakugou-kun's kinda..." the girl lowered her head as a sigh left her mouth. "I guess you can say I'm really scared. But you know, I'm trying to be braver and fight him head on like you always do, Shiro-chan."

"...Me?" Shiro wondered.

At this time, the door opened again and Midoriya walked in with purpose, "Uraraka-san!"

"Deku-kun? You followed me here?"

"Yeah, I wanted to give you something before your match but I didn't think you were going to leave so soon," the male answered as he took a seat across from Shiro and Uraraka. "I'm sorry for the intrusion, Shiro-san!"

"It's okay," she replied. "How's Ashido-san's match looking?"

"Both of them are going head to head! Ashido-san's acid is able to to dissolve Shiozaki-san's vines, but Shiozaki-san can produce a large amount of them at at time...!" he said before immediately switching to his muttering mode while flipping through the notebook in his hands. There was just so many amazing Quirks and abilities around him that he had to write them all down.

The two girls allowed him to continue with a supportive expression; he was sort of amazing in his own quirky way.

"Ashido-san's amazing physical ability is managing to keep her from getting caught so far... But Shiozaki-san is a strong opponent who placed fourth in the entrance exam... Vines... I think it can be comparable to Hero Kamui Wood's Quirk... I didn't get see the end of the match since I came here, but as expected, binding types are tricky—"

 _"Ashido Mina has been immobilized! Shiozaki Ibara from class 1-B advances to the next round!"_

The room grew quiet once the announcement was made and Shiro stood up. "It's time, huh?" she said softly.

"A-Ah! Sorry for keeping you from preparing!" Midoriya exclaimed. "But... Good luck!"

"Yeah, you can do it, Shiro-chan!"

At their encouragements, Shiro nodded and left the player waiting room.

It was finally time to face her first opponent.

* * *

 _"And here they are! Our sixth match of the day!"_

Shiro walked out from the tunnel and headed towards the center stage. Her face bore a neutral expression as the grip on her weapon tightened once she saw Shinso walk up from the other side.

 _"The spectacular bringer of luck and karma! Taking second for both rounds in the prelims with astonishing skill and finesse, she's simply the best! She's the one Mummy Man and I are rooting for—"_

 _"Oi, get on with your introduction."_

 _"What a killjoy! Anyway, it's Aisaka Shiragiku from the hero course! Versus—sorry, he hasn't done anything to stand out yet! From general studies, it's Shinso Hitoshi!"_

Shinso quirked a brow up at the Voice hero's obviously biased commentaries. "Class 1-A really do get everything and everyone in their favor, huh?" he asked, but Shiro only gave him a tight-lipped frown.

 _"It seems that fate will have it that we've pitted two former teammates from the cavalry battle against each other! This will be an interesting match, so let's get to it!"_

"You know, the point of this tournament is to test the strength of your spirit," Shinso continued as Present Mic shouted overhead for them to get ready. "If you know what you want for your future, then you can't worry about appearances."

 _"Start!"_

Shiro didn't waste any time as she drew her whip towards the purple haired male in one swift motion. Like Sero, she was going to throw her opponent out of bounds for the quickest way to end the match. That was the plan that she first came up with, and in the student section, Ojiro pumped his fist at her success at binding the purple haired male.

However, her opponent wasn't finished.

"You're angry, aren't you?!" Shinso shouted while attempting to brace himself. He already assumed that she knew how his Quirk works, but he also knew the type of person she was and what to do to get a reaction out of her. "Like you said, there's a difference between those who are always aiming for the top and those who aren't..."

 _Just throw him out..._ she thought as she drew him closer to the edge while lowering her head with gritted teeth. _That's all I have to do!_

"But tell me, who are you _more_ angry at? Me for using that monkey, or the fact that the monkey wasn't aiming for the top and stupidly threw away this chance?" At that accusation, he could tell that he had hit just the right button and made Shiro angry by her lowered head and shaking form. He smirked, "So much for aiming for the top, huh?"

 _"Shut up—!"_

And just like that, she froze in her position. Shinso steadied himself as the hold on his bindings slacked. Looking down, he was one inch away from being thrown out.

She was close, but not close enough.

"I win, Aisaka."

* * *

 **I've been racking in hours for work since I need money for rent and food, but I managed to push this chapter out ~ Ahhhh, I really need to focus on my other story but I keep finding myself inspired by BNHA instead haha TT-TT** **Anyway, I'm so excited for the next arc in the anime and WOOOOO, I have my first fanart of Shiro (thank you animefairy299!) I'm super happy to recieve any fanart, so feel free to draw your interpretation of Shiro :)**

 **Link:** anim-nee-chan tumblr com/post/175931487980 **(delete spaces and add dot inbetween)**

 **Also, here is long awaited character sheet I made:** aominekkid tumblr com/post/175954705092


	15. I Won't Give Up!

**Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _i won't give up!_

.

.

.

"Hey, hey, what's the matter? Aisaka's not moving a muscle! Is this Shinso's Quirk?!" Present Mic shouted from the cube. His eyes were wide with shock that the girl below would suddenly stop her attack. He tried to look closer, but he couldn't see her expression because she stopped moving with her head tilted downwards. The only thing he knew was that just second ago she had been angry at what Shinso said. "He didn't stand out _at all_ , but could he actually be someone amazing? Who could've imagined this?!"

"That's why I said the entrance exam wasn't rational," Aizawa responded with a gruff tone as he looked down at Shinso Hitoshi's information sheet. The Voice hero also turned to look at the sheet with a raised brow, letting out a confused mumble.

"I had someone compile individual stats of each student for me during lunch since it was going to be a one-on-one... Shinso failed the practical exam for the hero course, but since he also applied for general studies, he probably knew that would happen. His Quirk is very powerful, but the practical exam consisted of fighting faux villains. That gave an advantage to those with physical attack Quirks... He wouldn't have been able to rack up any points with his Quirk."

"Well, what _is_ his Quirk?" Present Mic asked as he looked for himself.

 _Shinso Hitoshi, Quirk: Brainwashing._

"Th-That's...! Could this be the end for Aisaka?! NOOOOO!"

Aizawa pushed the suddenly emotional hero out of his way with his arm cast. His black eyes focused on the unmoving girl in the ring. It seems that she really fell under Shinso's Quirk, and one of two things could happen at this point.

But either way, it will be over quickly.

* * *

Shinso took a few steps forward to move away from the out of bounds line, though he knew that he ws fully under control now. He stared at Shiro's slightly slouched form and frowned.

"I would have liked to not use this on you again, but this is the only way," he revealed despite knowing she couldn't answer him anymore. "Turn around and walk out of bounds."

At his command, Shiro's body started to move on its own. She turned around; one step, two steps, three steps... She was slowly making her way to the other side like an obedient puppy.

 _My body is moving on its own because of his command, but I can still hear myself this time..._ she thought while each step she took seemed to echo loudly around her. It was as Ojiro said, in a one-on-one, there was no way that there could be an outside force to help her snap out of this control. This was the worst-case scenario for her, but like she had suspected, Shinso knew just the right things to say because he knew she was susceptible to provocation.

 _"Please do your best for me, too."_

As those words echoed through her mind, she willed herself to focus harder. She had taken a huge gamble with this because she wasn't sure if she would still be conscious of her mind, but now that she knew, it was now or never... She _needed_ to make this work because the out of bounds line was just a few feet in front of her.

"It's as you said… 'Go beyond', 'Plus Ultra'... Maybe you won't understand, but even with a Quirk like this, I have my own dream," Shinso said as she neared the line. "So, lose for me."

 _Sorry Shinso, but I can't do that...!_

Before Shiro took another step, the air around them picked up as a gust flew past his face. He stepped forward to decipher what was going on, but the girl suddenly rose up into the air.

 _"Th-This is...!"_ Present Mic's voice boomed at the unnatural sight of the girl floating above the air before descending once again

 _"Her reality rewrite took effect,"_ Aizawa stated with a grin.

It was as he had suspected; Shiro may be easy to provoke with the right words, but she had been trained for years to think ahead and plan for the impossible. It was well within her capabilities to find a way to combat a hard situation, and Aizawa believed with his whole heart that she would pull through the risk that was falling under Shinso's Quirk while waiting for her rewrite to take full effect. Although using both eyes simultaneously took time, once it was activated, it couldn't be easily stopped.

Down below, Shiro's mind had never been clearer as both of her eyes finally focused enough on herself to rewrite a second of her body's density to be lighter than air. As quickly as she rose, she came crashing down onto the ground from 10 feet above. The impact effectively knocked the senses back to her.

 _"This is amazing! Aisaka broke out of Shinso's control!"_

The crowd cheered as the girl stood back up with a wince. She rotated her right shoulder slightly to make sure that nothing was broken. It hurt like hell, but everything seemed to be in the right place... However, she knew it was going to be harder to throw him out from a distance now. _Ouch… This is the second time I injured my shoulder because of him,_ she lamented as she turned back around to face Shinso.

"You... You shouldn't be able to move freely!" he gritted through his teeth.

 _I'll admit that you hit the right buttons for me to get mad... It was a good thing I had activated my reality rewrite as a precaution seconds before because I knew I wouldn't be able to stop myself... But I was skeptical that this would even work!_

Shinso took a cautious step back as she moved away from the out of bounds line. Her eyes shone with determination. But he wasn't ready to lose yet, either.

"When we met back at the entrance exam, I thought we were the same because of what you said to me," he narrowed his eyes. "But you had this ability hidden all along, huh? Thanks to my Quirk, I've been behind from the start. _You're_ just like the others! You're just one of those people who can easily reach their goals!"

 _Easy?_ Shiro ran towards him before using her whip to entangle the male once again. However, this time his arm shot out to block it so that it only caught one arm. _If reaching goals was this easy, the world would be in chaos!_

"Why don't you say something?! Do you look down on me this much?!"

She rotated her position and pulled him around towards her as he aimed a punch at her. Her left eye spun and she dodged by ducking under before sending over a harsh push on his torso. Caught by surprise, he tumbled back several feet but then grabbed ahold of the whip that was wrapped out his other arm to steady himself. The force of his pull dragged the girl towards him and he grabbed her, but at the last second, she maneuvered out of Shinso's grip.

However, he still had a grip on her attached weapon. "I'm not going to give up!" he shouted as he continued to pull her towards him.

 _...Me either!_ Shiro's left eye spun wildly just before they both landed on the ground with a loud _THUD._

The crowd grew silent. Both had fallen extremely close to the line, but upon inspection, one leg had crossed the line while the rest didn't. Midnight's arm shot up at the definite outcome.

"Shinso-kun is out of bounds!"

* * *

At the announcement that the girl will advance into the next round, her classmates all let out relieved sighs as Ojiro slouched back into his seat, his body finally relaxing after the final result. "I was so nervous..." he also sighed in relief as a smile appeared. _She really did it!_

"Turning tables at the last moment!" Iida noted with astonishment. "Shiro-kun is always so unpredictable!"

"That general studies guy is so lucky! Man!" Kaminari commented with hints of envy. He imitated the action with his own hands to get a feel of how the purple haired male did it, pouting as he nudged his neighbor urgently. "She landed _right_ on top of him!"

It was unfortunate that his neighbor just so happened to be Bakugou, and the male was already irritated for some reason.

" _Shut up,_ Dunce Face!"

Kaminari shrank with dejection, choosing to immediately do as told since he didn't want to piss the male off more.

* * *

Shiro got up on her feet quickly, seeing that Shinso couldn't do so until she got off of his fallen form. While usually she'd be embarrassed for being in this kind of predicament, her face was showing no signs of that. Instead, her eyes shone with a different emotion for her opponent.

"I have to admit, Brainwashing is a pretty handy Quirk," she said. Immediately, memories from the past flooded into Shinso's mind.

 _"Wow Shinso, your Quirk is Brainwashing?"_

 _"Seriously? I've never heard that before! So you can control anyone with that, huh?"_

 _"You can do as much bad stuff as you want!"_

 _"No one would even know it was you... Hey, don't control us, okay?"_

"Everyone says that," he clipped. _But of course, if someone else had it, the first thing I'd think is that they'd use it for evil, too. I'm used to people insinuating that about me. That's just what the world is like. Even so..._ Shinso's sullen purple eyes bore into her ruby ones from his position on the cold cement floor. The girl offered him a small smile that he figured was out of pity, but she then extended a hand out for him to take.

"Just imagining how well your Quirk will work against villains... I'm almost jealous."

His eyes widened while she tilted her head slightly, signally that she was waiting for him. Finally, he reached up and took her hand. Happy that he didn't leave her hanging in front of so many people, Shiro pulled him up swiftly.

 _"What a great show of sportsmanship!"_ Present Mic's voice boomed from the announcement cube at their action. _"Even though the match didn't turn out to be as interesting as we'd_ _all hoped, we should praise them both for a bravely fought match. Clap your hands!"_

They stood across from each other and bowed as the crowd gave them a round of applause and cheers.

"You were right, though. I _was_ angry at you," Shiro revealed afterwards with a small shrug. "But it's not something I can fault you on forever. Every Quirk works differently... And I can see that you're not letting that difference stop you from becoming a hero. It's _not_ easy to become a hero, you know. But I don't doubt you'll make a damn good one in the future."

She was encouraging him again in her own way—just like that time during the entrance exam. From her expression, he knew that she remembered exactly what she had said to him, too. Shinso turned, his back now facing her as he stepped towards the stairs to go down the tournament ring. The corners of his mouth slid upwards.

"...You can't help the things you long for, after all," he said. "Depending on the results, they'll reconsider our transfer into the hero course. Remember that. Even if it didn't work this time, I definitely won't give up. I'll get into the hero course, get certified, and I'll definitely become a better hero than you guys!"

At his new declaration, Shiro let out a small huff with determination. "Yeah right—" Her mind suddenly went blank.

 _...Did he really use his Quirk on me again?!_

"Heh, people are usually wary when they talk to me, though," Shinso's shoulders slacked as a chuckle let out. He allowed his Quirk to deactivate again as he craned his neck back to look at her with a small smirk. "Don't let anyone else trip you up before we face each other again... I fully intend on defeating you next time."

She rolled her eyes and smirked as well.

 _Like I'll let that happen, Shinso._

* * *

The next match quickly started with Kirishima and Tetsutetsu while Shiro went to get her shoulder fixed by Recovery Girl, but it looked like it will take a bit of time as the two fought it out with near-identical Quirks. It was quite comical, really.

Walking back through the halls towards the inner building of the stadium, Shiro wondered if Midoriya was still with Uraraka in the player waiting room. As she passed by the room that the two were in, part of the conversation between Uraraka and Midoriya traveled through the door. Curious but not wanting to interrupt them, she stood outside and listened on.

 _"...when Iida-kun said he'd challenge you, it actually made me feel a little embarrassed."_

 _"Uraraka-san..."_

 _"That's why it's fine. Everyone's facing the future and trying their hardest. That means we're all rivals, right? That's why... Let's meet in the finals!"_

After hearing that, Shiro realized that the girl had already made up her mind and was ready to face her battle just fine. With a content nod, she walked away from the waiting room to join the rest of her classmates; she got out of the tunnel just in time to see Kirishima and Tetsutetsu sending each other the final punch that sent the both to the ground.

 _"The two guys with the same Quirks! Tetsutetsu versus Kirishima! A head-to-head fistfight! And the winner is—?"_ Present Mic led on with great enthusiasm from the cube as everyone looked at the chief umpire for her judgment.

"Both contestants down! It's a draw! In the case of a draw, after they recover, the winner will be determined by a simple contest, like arm wrestling."

As the health bots wheeled the two unconscious players off to Recovery Girl, the audience around her all cheered with awe. From behind, she heard Midoriya running up to catch up.

"Shiro-san!"

"Oh, hi," she greeted back as the boy caught his breath, and she noted that he was clutching a burnt notebook in his hand. It looked like the one he always had with him, filled with hero information and sketches of battle strategies.

"It looks like I missed Kirishima-kun's match… But ah! I heard about Shinso-kun's Quirk and I thought it was amazing that you broke out of it!" he rambled on with a look of awe. "Congratulations! Uraraka-san also wanted to congratulate you, but her match is starting soon."

"Thanks Midoriya-san," she replied with a tilt of her head. "Uraraka-san was very nervous when I last saw her. I'm glad she's okay now."

The male nodded with his eyes shining with respect and determination for the mentioned girl. "I sketched a rough battle plan for Uraraka-san to use against Kacchan, but she's determined to do this on her own. That's what I like about her; she's really amazing in that way," he said as Shiro gave him a knowing look. However, he mistook her look for something else and covered his face with embarrassment. "I-I meant 'like' in the way I like you a-and the rest of our classmates!"

 _I thought that was pretty clear..._ Shiro blinked idly and wondered why the boy was so flustered about it. "Well, we should get to our seats before the match starts."

Quickly locating class 1-A's section, Midoriya was on the lookout for Iida to sit next to him and she was about to follow suit when she noticed Todoroki leaning against the wall towards the next tunnel entrance, watching from behind all of the seated audience with a contemplating look. Midoriya also glanced over at the person who caught her interest and the bicolor haired male just so happened to turn his way as well. His green eyes grew wary against those serious heterochromatic eyes when he remembered the conversation that they had towards the end of lunch.

Shiro sensed a sort of tension between the two, and it was for obvious reasons. After all, Midoriya was going up against Todoroki after Uraraka and Bakugou's battle. Thankfully for the curly haired male, Iida spotted them when he turned around and motioned them to come.

"Let's go, Shiro-san," Midoriya suggested since the match was starting soon. Shiro was about to follow when remembering the look on Todoroki's face stopped her.

 _It wouldn't hurt to check up on him, right?_

"Actually, I'll catch up in a bit, okay?" she offered the male an apologetic smile. He nodded before walking down to meet the class president.

Shiro walked towards Todoroki, who regarded her appearance coolly. Though, he didn't necessarily look unhappy to have her stand beside him... Or that was the impression his unbothered gaze appeared to show, anyway.

"There's enough chairs at our section for you to sit, you know," she commented offhandedly. The male shrugged.

"I wanted to be alone."

"Oh," Shiro blinked awkwardly and pushed herself off the wall again. Maybe she should've minded her own business after all. "I guess I'll go—?"

"No," he said immediately to stop her from leaving. "I wouldn't mind if you stayed."

With a curious pout, Shiro resituated herself against the wall besides Todoroki. Very much like his Quirk, he was always hot and cold, and she didn't quite get him.

 _"The eight and last match of the first round! He was kind of famous in middle school! This isn't face of a regular person! From the hero course, it's Bakugou Katsuki!"_ Present Mic announced as their two classmates finally walked out to the field. From the side that she was facing, she could see the expression on Bakugou's face and she had to agree when she saw that weird gritting scowl on his face.

 _"Versus—she's also the one I'm rooting for! From the hero course, it's Uraraka Ochaco!"_

"He's gotta stop picking favorites so casually. That's borderline picking on Bakugou…" Shiro hummed softly at the hero's blatant comment. Todoroki looked at her with slight bewilderment and she tilted her head in question. He seemed to have a habit of giving her that odd look. "What?"

"It's just surprising that you'd say that. I didn't think you liked Bakugou."

The comment worked to make her cheeks flare. "I _don't_ like that prickhead! It's just... This is different," she retorted slowly before growing increasingly agitated as she continued to think about the explosive blonde. "He just has a bad attitude. Terrible. Hmph, it's the _worst,_ actually."

"...I see," Todoroki responded slowly.

However, he still felt a clench of displeasure from seeing that she was blushing when she talked about the blonde. Trying to ignore it, he faced forward to pay attention to the match.

 _"Eighth match, start!"_

* * *

Bakugou's eyes narrowed as he stared at his opponent.

"You're the one that makes things float, right, Round Face?" he asked. He only recognized her because she always hung around Midoriya and Shiro; there might've been a previous time that they were opponents, too, but he didn't care too much about that. He needed to win in order for him to advance to the next round, so he will not hold back. "If you're going to withdraw, do it now. You won't get off with just an 'ouch'."

The girl only glared back at him with those determined round eyes. As soon as Present Mic announced to start, she ran towards him with her body low to the ground.

"Withdrawing isn't a choice!" she shouted. Bakugou raised his right palm, ready to receive whatever she was going to do. Sparks ignited.

"Then, die!"

Uraraka neared him and zeroed in on his torso with her arms out. She remembered from the combat training that Midoriya told her the blonde always started out with a right swing, so as long as she knew that and avoid it, she can touch him and make him float. _Here! If I dodge here...!_

A giant blast blew up before her and the impact threw her body back several feet as black smoke littered with fiery orange sparks surrounded her. "This is no good," she blocked the debris from her face as she looked around the black smog. "Even if I knew about it, I couldn't react in time!"

"I'll take care of you," the blonde's threatening voice projected somewhere within the fog.

 _Deku-kun and Shiro-chan can always turn things around even when things aren't going in their favor,_ she thought as she pinpointed Bakugou's location. Using the smoke screen as an opportunity to conceal her body, she quickly got into action. _To be on the same level as them, I have to do the same!_

"Don't underestimate me!" Bakugou shouted as he swung his right hand towards the emerging figure within the smoke. He slammed his palm down, expecting to restrain the girl, however he was met with only fabric. Under his hand was an U.A. girl's gym jacket, but nothing else.

 _"Oh, she made her jacket float and sent it over there?!"_ Present Mic explained with an impressed tone. The girl was now behind the blonde. _"She did it in an instant, too!"_

 _If I make him float now—!_ Uraraka was so close to touching the blonde to activate her Quirk, but his reflexes were so quick that he immediately sent a blast to propel her back once more. Stopping herself from tumbling further away, she was ready to try again.

"Too slow!"

Another explosion.

She came up from the other side, "Take this!"

 _BOOM!_

Another explosion.

And another.

"I'm not done yet!"

 _BOOM!_

Bakugou swept his arm at the incoming girl once more as she relentlessly got up after every one of his blasts to try again. His sharp eyes and ears listened for her every movement as he sent more explosions that blew up both the cement from the ground to force the girl to recoil back.

All around them, the crowd was watching with horror and dread for the poor girl.

"Hey, shouldn't you stop this?!" One of them said as he called out to Cementoss, who was standing as a proctor for the battles.

"Yeah, isn't this going too far?"

"It's like he's toying with her!"

"I can't watch..."

"Hey!" Another stood up with anger as he addressed Bakugou. "How can you say you want to be a hero like that?! If there's such a huge difference in your abilities, then hurry up and send her out of bounds!"

Shiro frowned at the hero sitting just a section below her who spoke up about the battle. She honestly didn't see anything wrong with it. True, the explosions that keep coming Uraraka's way was unsightly and hard to watch, but that was because Bakugou was wary of her every move. He saw her as a formidable opponent to watch out for.

So, the Pro Hero's suggestion about him toying with Uraraka was _preposterous_.

"Are you _really_ a Pro Hero?" she asked loudly with incredulity. Besides her, Todoroki was in silent agreement and at the same time, he was impressed at her boldness to speak her mind in front of such a large crowd of opposing views.

The hero she addressed turned to them with an offended look, "Excuse me?!"

"I asked if you're really a Pro Hero," she deadpanned seriously. "Because it sounds like you don't even know what's going on by saying something so incredibly disrespectful towards both of the players."

The female hero sitting beside the outraged hero also stood up and gave her a disapproving frown, "Don't you think _you're_ being disrespectful towards us Pros? You're just a kid, what do you know?! That guy is bullying and playing around with the poor girl!"

 _Playing around?_ Shiro continued to doubt the status of those heroes since they couldn't see how seriously Bakugou was taking Uraraka's attacks. Furthermore, it was also inconsiderate of them for thinking that Uraraka was just some helpless girl. _You've got to be kidding me..._

"They're idiots if they haven't figured it out yet," she muttered so that only Todoroki heard, but a cacophony of boos surrounded her part of the bleachers from the previous heroes' comments.

"If you're backing that guy up, then you're no good, either!"

"I agree! Can't you see he's going too far?"

"Stop the bullying!"

"Seriously, why hasn't he been disqualified?!"

 _"There's booing from part of the crowd..."_ Present Mic relayed when he drew his attention towards that section. _"But honestly, I also feel the—"_ The mic was suddenly slapped out of the Voice hero's hands as Aizawa pushed him away with his elbow. _"Ow! What're ya doing?!"_

 _"Was that a Pro saying he's playing around? How many years have you been a Pro?"_ Aizawa demanded. _"If you're saying that with a straight face, there's no point in you watching anymore. If a mere first-year student can understand something as simple as what's going on here while you can't, then go home and look into changing careers! Bakugou is being careful because he's acknowledged the strength of his opponent who has made it this far. It's because he's doing everything he can to win that he can't go easy on her or let his guard down."_

The crowd humbled down at the Erasure hero's voice of serious disapproval. Awkwardly, the vocal Pros sat back down.

"Eraserhead..." Shiro's lips quirked upwards in a satisfied grin to know that her mentor was also on the same page as her. She was a bit surprised that Present Mic hadn't caught on... Though, that man _could_ act like such an airhead when he got too carried away with his radio-show persona. Looking at Todoroki, she felt him mirroring the same thought process as her.

They both realized long ago what Uraraka was doing... After all, it shared a fundamental strategy that she had used against Todoroki during _their_ combat training.

The girl below changed her demeanor as she finally raised her body from that slouched posture. It couldn't be helped that Bakugou hadn't noticed what she was doing earlier because of his position, but it was a huge miss for many of the "Pros" out in the stands to not have noticed.

"Because she kept her body low, Bakugou responded by expelling his explosions near the ground where she is," Todoroki remarked as he watched the girl draw her hands together to release her zero-gravity Quirk. "In addition, Uraraka's relentless attacks narrowed his field of vision and kept him from noticing."

Following her companion's remark, Shiro looked up to the sky and smirked. Dozens of blown up pieces of cement were suspended in the air. Uraraka was using Bakugou's explosive properties to store up weapons this entire time.

"That's what I'd call using your resources."

* * *

Uraraka rasped out a tired but determined breath as she stared at Bakugou. "Thanks, Bakugou-kun... For not letting your guard down..." she said before releasing her Quirk. "I'm gonna win!"

The amount of rocks suddenly falling from being released in their zero-gravity state was a sight to behold. It was a tremendous meteor shower. With the opening that the distraction created, she immediately raced towards her opponent.

Bakugou looked up at the falling shower of debris and raised his left palm up while bracing it with his right. _So this was her desperate plan..._ He let out a deep breath and focused all his energy on his one palm. There was just enough sweat gathered from continuously heating up his hands to evade and counter the girl's relentless attacks for him to pull this off.

 _It doesn't matter because I must win!_

Firecracker-like sparks traveled up his entire arm before an enormous explosion blasted from his palm up towards the debris, the force and extent of the blow immediately obliterated the large rocks into smithereens while throwing the girl back.

"Since you're friends with Deku, I thought you'd be up to something..." he said as the black smog cleared slowly to reveal his smoking hand. Internally, he winced from the pain shooting up his palm. _That was close..._

Uaraka stood back up shakily and staggered to turn back around. "You're _still_ standing?" Bakugou got back into battle stance at her willpower and started running towards her. "All right, let's get serious then!"

Suddenly, her legs buckled, and she fell. Despite it all, she still desperately tried to crawl her way towards Bakugou, who had stopped running towards her fallen form but was still cautiously observing her every move.

 _My body... But..._ Uraraka bit her lips with frustration as she crawled with all her might. She had tried so, so hard, and she couldn't let this end here. _I can still..._

Alas, her body couldn't hold up.

 _...Dad... I'll definitely... Become... A hero..._

Midnight stepped once the girl stopped moving and held up a hand. "Uraraka-san's out of commission," she announced. "Bakugou-kun advances to the second round!"

* * *

 **Hm, I don't know how I feel about this chapter. It turned out less exciting than I wanted :( It's mostly build-up for the next chapter though, so stay tuned for that!**

 **Aaaaand, more fanarts! :D I love them so much, thank you! (Remember to delete spaces and add ".")**

 **By _fanficncatnip:_** fanficncatnip tumblr com/post/176088087953

 **By _teetertotter:_ **i63 tinypic com/2j3f894 jpg

 **By _animefairy299:_** anim-nee-chan tumblr com/post/175958916300


	16. It's Yours

**Sorry for the long wait! I moved into my new apartment in August and quite literally got internet installed in here just a few days ago to log online. College has started up for me again and I'll be even busier since it's my third year, but I promise to do my best with my stories :) Enjoy this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _it's yours_

.

.

.

The crowd cheered as Bakugou's face appeared on the big screen as the winner of the eighth match. Everyone seemed to have forgotten that just moments ago they were booing the blonde for "playing around". While Present Mic announced the final winner and concluded the first round, Shiro watched the medical robots wheel Uraraka out to Recovery Girl and Bakugou make his way off the stage as well with the characteristic scowl on his face.

"Uraraka-san..." Shiro said almost regrettably for the girl. Doing the calculations, the result of the match only drew her one step closer for the chance of facing off Bakugou in the semi-finals. Judging by his performance here, she can only conclude that anyone up against him was going to have a hard time with such an overpowering Quirk. "She did her best. She really was leading him by the nose for a good moment there."

"It's true that this was the best she could do in that situation, but knowing Bakugou's strength, it was incautious of her to not have a back-up," Todoroki added for measure.

"There just wasn't enough time and Uraraka-san had used her all her energy repeatedly throwing herself into the explosions," she looked at the male besides her. "Speaking of time, your match is up next, isn't it?"

Todoroki nodded silently and pushed himself off the wall. He had seen Midoriya head into the tunnel for the player waiting room already, and that was his cue to go as well. Just as he was about to leave, he felt a tug on his arm and turned to see a soft look in Shiro's ruby eyes.

"I don't know how your 'talk' with Midoriya-san went and I'm not going to pry into your business, but just... Remember what I said, okay?"

Todoroki stilled. What she said had never left his mind, but he didn't know how to think the same way as she did. He was someone cursed with two powers; one from his mother and the other from his father. It was _because_ of this curse that his father became even more of an asshole than he was and the reason why his mother had become so unstable.

"Aisaka, I..."

"What the fuck are you two doing?"

Bakugou, in all his glory, was glaring at them with his hands in his pant pockets. Shiro realized that his eyes were trained on her hand still holding into Todoroki's wrist, so she quickly let go. "What exactly is your problem?" she retorted impatiently while he glowered.

"You're quick to make a move on anyone huh," came his taunting sneer. Even he didn't know why he was suddenly so pissed off. He was just sick and tired of seeing these two together all the damn time. That, and perhaps all the pestering Kaminari gave him while watching her fight with Shinso had given him a justifiable reason to be angry.

"That _side character_ wasn't enough for you?"

Shiro's cheeks reddened. _H-How dare he!_ Despite the fact that she had defended him just minutes ago against Pro Heroes, hearing that from him immediately threw any good thought about him out the window.

"That's rich coming from _you!_ " she spat with a huff. "I'm surprised you didn't try to pull a fast one when you were fighting Uraraka-san, _pervert_!"

Bakugou's eyes twitched because he knew exactly what she was referring to. "T-That was _your_ fucking fault and you know it!" he growled as he stalked up to her. His face was red, but whether from anger or embarrassment, they couldn't tell.

"Hmph!" Shiro managed to not burst into flames from both embarrassment and anger. Instead, she swiftly turned to Todoroki, who was beyond confused of their exchange, and pretended to not even see the blonde anymore. "As I was saying before _someone_ rudely interrupted, good luck on your match, Todoroki-san," she encouraged with unmatched calmness before shooting the blonde a taunting glare. "Maybe _we'll_ be opponents."

Todoroki blinked; though he appreciated it, he wasn't so sure that it was the right response at the moment.

An almost inhuman growl sounded from the pissed off male and she stood her ground, prepared for what was to come. Though, she was surprised as he stomped past them, all the while making a point to bump shoulders with her.

"I'll blow you _and_ that bastard into ashes," he vowed with his back to her. "Just don't fucking lose until _I_ beat you!"

Shiro watched as he headed towards where Kaminari and the others were sitting and reeled stubbornly. Todoroki's hot and cold she could manage, but Bakugou? He was a wild card. Just _why_ did he have to go and pick a fight and bring _that_ up suddenly? What even was his problem?!

 _Ugh, that prickhead!_

* * *

"Oh, there he is! Bakugou!" Kaminari called as the blonde stomped over to them. The electric Quirk user saw an equally fuming Shiro and ever-impassive Todoroki together behind the male and raised his brows at the situation. "Did you say something to piss Shiro-chan off? Jeez, no wonder Todoroki is ahead. You gotta stop doing that if you want to have a chance at her heart—"

The curling of Bakugou's palm in a tell-tale sign that he didn't have any qualms to use his Quirk to shut the other blonde up immediately worked to do just that. Meanwhile, Sero looked at Bakugou apprehensively. "Anyway…" he drew the conversation back to their original topic of discussion. "That match was tough, huh? Playing the bad guy..."

"Even if it was because of the match-up, you played an amazing villain, Bakugou-chan," Tsuyu added bluntly.

"Yeah!" Kaminari reverted to his bold demeaner once again and sighed with a pitying look. "I can't believe you were able to aim such a huge blast at a frail girl! I wouldn't be able to help but hold back."

The cellophane user grimaced at the blatant exaggeration as Tsuyu called the blonde out. "You'd most likely try to show off with a higher wattage than you can handle, just like what you did with Midoriya-chan. But it'd be more embarrassing because it would be a girl."

"T-Tsuyu-chan...!" Kaminari whined with embarrassment at the truth.

Bakugou scoffed at their annoying banter. He'd like to blow them up to shut their traps, but he knew he needed to calm down. Besides, he was the one in battle, so he knew. Nothing about his opponent was frail. He only did what was necessary to win. There are more matches ahead that he was looking forward to so that he can beat them all and show them his undisputable strength.

But either way, he wasn't going to allow anyone to best him one-on-one. His face contorted into an embarrassed scowl when he thought about Shiro once again.

 _Why do I keep fucking thinkin' about **that**..._

* * *

 _"The winner of their arm wrestling match to decide who advances to the second round is—! Kirishima! He won his ticket to the second round!"_

Overhead, Shiro could already hear Present Mic announcing for the second round to start soon. She felt bad for missing Kirishima's tie-breaker but seeing that she had a little time after the last battle ended, she had decided to walk around and cool off. Yes, she was going to put the blame on a certain _prickhead_. Turning the corner quickly, she nearly bumped into Midoriya who was looking downcast and frustrated.

"Midoriya-san?"

"Ah, Shiro-san! Sorry, I should've been paying attention!" Midoriya apologized before rubbing the back of his head at her concerned stare. "I just saw Uraraka-san…" he explained. "She put up a brave front with me, but it's obvious that she's frustrated about the result of her match…"

Shiro nodded her head slowly. It was understandable that Uraraka felt this way, especially since the girl had high hopes for the festival to reach her dream. If Shiro was in the same position, no doubt she'll be even more frustrated due to her stubborn nature. "What about you?" she shifted her attention to the male after a moment of thought. "Are _you_ okay?"

"Y-Yeah," the male insisted before biting his bottom lip and rubbed an arm across his watering eyes. "It's just... I can't believe I told Uraraka-san that I could help when I couldn't do anything for her... Instead, _she_ encouraged _me_ again. I wanted to make sure that she was okay, but she ended up comforting me for my match…"

Shiro put a hand on the male's shoulder to let him know that it was okay, though a bit awkwardly since she didn't know how to deal with crying people. "Well, we are all looking forward to your match with Todoroki-san," she told him to change the subject. "Uraraka-san did her best, so I'm sure she wanted you to do yours, right?"

Squeezing the drop of tear from his eye, Midoriya nodded and looked ahead more confidently. "Yeah. You're right!"

Heavy footsteps suddenly came around the corner and the figure that appeared surprised them. Before them stood the Flame Hero: Endeavor. True to upholding his hero name, the man was sported from head to toe in fiery orange flames.

"E-Endeavor?! What are you doing here...?" Midoriya was shocked to see the hero, but his reaction of the hero was not his usual fanboy admiration. It seems that he's also heard about the hero's deeds from Todoroki and was regarding him with _fear_.

"Oh, there you are," the Flame Hero mused. His icy blue eyes shifted to Shiro for a brief moment before going back to the curly haired boy with a point of his gloved finger. "I watched your fight. You have a wonderful Quirk. You created so much wind pressure just by flicking your fingers. If we're talking about power alone..." his eyes narrowed more. "Yours is comparable to All Might's."

The hero's words visibly shocked Midoriya and he immediately adverted his eyes. Shiro noticed that he seemed to do that a lot when people commented things that related him to All Might. However, this was no time to be suspicious about her friend. _What does Endeavor want with Midoriya?_

"Wh-What are you... What are you trying to say?" the boy denied nervously as he made it a point to walk around the hero to avoid the confrontation. "I-I must get going!"

"It is my Shoto's duty to surpass All Might," Endeavor said, making Midoriya pause as he continued. "His match with you will be a very instructive test bed. Please don't disgrace yourself in it."

Shiro narrowed her eyes as Todoroki's words for his old man filled her mind, not even caring that her emotions were so apparent on her face for the hero to see. She understood Todoroki's frustration and distaste even more now. _Just what does he make of his son?_

"I..." Midoriya clenched his fists; he was bothered by those words as well. "I am not All Might."

Endeavor raised a brow. "That should be obvious—"

"That's obvious, right?" he cut the hero off before walking away with as much confidence as he could muster. "Todoroki-kun isn't you, either."

 _That's right, you tell him Midoriya!_

Shiro gave the number two hero a sideways glance before trying to follow behind. She already had _someone_ anger her in the last 10 minutes, so it was a hard pass for her to even speak to Endeavor at this point. However, she was stopped by the hero's large and outstretched arm.

"If I may have a word with you," Endeavor's voice boomed, his request sounded more like a demand in her ears. Unlike Midoriya, however, she was able to hold her gaze with the powerful hero as if expecting him to hurry up with his words. She realized how strikingly similar his eyes were to Todoroki's, yet looking at Endeavor's double icy orbs only elicited a feeling of ire.

"It seems like my Shoto has taken a liking to you," he examined Shiro carefully as she continued to stubbornly hold his piercing blue eyes. "I heard you are Eraserhead's adopted child? Hmph, I must have a word with him. My Shoto can't afford distractions from you."

That got Shiro to narrow her eyes with insult as she remembered similar words from Todoroki after the first challenge before they made up. Unwittingly, the dual-Quirked male was truly a son of Endeavor. "Excuse me?"

The hero stood with total authority and wasn't backing down from his claim, so like a dam, her internal anger broke through. Patience with injustice was never her forte, anyway.

"I used to envy those with real parents and wonder what it was like, but after meeting you, I can only feel disgust," she said without holding back anymore. "Todoroki-san is a _human being,_ let alone your _son_. I won't let you treat a friend of mine like an object you own."

"Friend? Shoto does not have a need for friends," Endeavor claimed with narrowed eyes.

"If that's how you think, then it's not my problem that he would rather hang out with _me_ than be in the same vicinity as you," she rolled her eyes fearlessly. "With the rate you're pushing, you won't be able to get him back."

Endeavor could only regard her audacity to defy and stand up to him with surprise. It was no wonder his son seemed so interested in her now. _What kind of girl did Eraserhead raise?_ A low and amused chuckle sounded from the back of his throat in thought.

For Shiro, her words seemed to get him thinking about something and she didn't like it one bit. Then, as if the hostile conversation never even happened, the hero stepped past her with just a single encouragement, if one could call it that.

"Hm. Shoto's match is starting. I apologize for my sudden appearance. Good luck on the rest of your matches, _Shoto's friend_."

The burning fire and sound of heavy boots faded down the hall and Shiro couldn't help but be confused and irritated by the encounter.

What was the point of his remark, and what exactly does he want from her?

* * *

 _"Thanks for waiting, everybody!"_ Present Mic's voice shouted through the intercom as Shiro finally returned to Class 1-A's seating section. _"The first match of the second round is a big match!"_

Indeed, the crowd was cheering even louder than before at the sight of the bicolor haired male walking towards the stadium as Present Mic hyped up his introduction. On the opposite side, Midoriya was making his way up as well with a determined face. This was one of the matches that the crowd was looking forward to, and at the same time, was a bit apprehensive to watch after Todoroki's show of strength during his _first_ match.

 _I made it in time,_ Shiro thought with relief as she was about to run up towards class 1-A's seating section. At the same time, Kirishima's footsteps pounded up to her, his face showing relief as well seeing that the match below was only just starting.

"Shiro-chan!" he greeted with his proud grin and an excited twinkle in his eyes. "Did you see how I used my manly strength to defeat Tetsutetsu?! Man, he was so strong!"

"Congratulations, Kirishima-san. I knew you could do it," she told him, not wanting to reveal that she didn't see his wrestling match because a certain someone had pissed her off. "It looks like we both made it into the second round."

"Yeah! I'll be up against Bakugou next!"

The girl didn't realize how her face scrunched at the mention of the explosive blonde, but Kirishima did and he rubbed the backside of his head. He knew the two never had a great relationship, but their visible distaste for each other usually only appeared after an immediate argument.

He didn't think things between them during the cavalry battle had gotten _too_ bad. Bakugou _was_ pissed about Shiro's team snagging second place, but he knew the blonde was directing the bulk of his frustrations towards Todoroki who placed first. Why was it that they were always fighting?

He swore they were like a couple of fiery lovers.

Shiro caught his knowing gaze and looked away swiftly to avoid eye contact with the redhead, who was scratching his head at her cute denial with naivety. "Um, how about I go and get Bakugou to apologize to you?" he offered with a good natured grin. "He acts hard all the time but he's not a terrible person, I promise."

Shiro grumbled before stopping the eager redhead. He was making _her_ feel guilty. "Thanks Kirishima-san, but I'll be okay."

"Eh, you sure...?" he blinked. "How about you tell me what happened? I'm sure whatever Bakugou said or did can be solved!"

 _Kirishima, you're too good to that prick,_ she thought before pondering what she should do. Can she really tell the redhead what has been bothering her since the day she trained with Bakugou? It was fine before because she had it squashed in the corner of her mind, but now that Bakugou himself had to come in a pick at that _embarrassing_ memory, it wasn't failing to plague her every thought.

 _"You finally wanna fight me?"_

 _"No Quirks," she instructed as a caveat to agreeing. "I'm only doing this because it's better than fighting a punching bag."_

 _"Heh, I don't care about your reasons," Bakugou rolled his shoulders and got into position. There was a glint of excitement in his eyes as he smirked at Shiro. "Just don't go crying when I beat you to a pulp."_

 _"Oh please. Instead of talking the talk, you should walk the walk!" she grinned and charged right at him with her fist ready for a right hook._

 _Bakugou instinctively shield his face before retaliating. She managed to defend herself from his blow by ducking under, but he was fast as his knee came up towards her abdomen. Breaking away from that painful blow, Shiro aimed for his solar plexus by drilling her arm up._

 _"Your moves are too damn predicable!" he sneered as he caught her fist and twisted it. Shiro kicked her foot up to make him loosen his grip and jumped back. "Is that all you got, Pigtails?!"_

 _He was riling her up, she knew._ Too predicable? _It was really hard to fight without her Quirk; her probability manipulation had always aided her attacks and defenses. Stripped of her power, she can only rely on her own strength and that gave her a painful disadvantage against Bakugou in terms of combat ability. But she wasn't going to let that discourage her._

 _"Don't get too cocky, Prickhead!" she shouted as she charged at him again._

 _He was ready once again to deflect her with a kick but this time, she wasn't aiming to attack first. Using his leg as leverage, she used it to push herself up into the air and land behind him. There, she aimed her own kick at his back and sent him across the room. Not giving him a second to recover, she jumped on him with her arm threatening to crush his trachea._

 _"Still 'too predicable'?" she huffed in short breaths._

 _Bakugou only grinned dangerously before he kicked his foot up to try and flip her over. However, during the struggle, they rolled around and knocked into one of the weight lifting sets in the corner of the room. The impact caused the stand to wobble as one of the smaller weights dropped down from the tall shelf_

 _"Shit—!" Bakugou, being under Shiro, saw it and forcefully pulled the girl with him has he rolled to the side. Not yet realizing what was happening, the girl jolted up in the midst of him ducking his head down._

 _Time froze as b_ _oth pairs of ruby eyes widened to the size of saucers._

Shiro snapped out of the blasted memory with a startling blush. Yeah, there was no way she could tell Kirishima that they had accidentally _kissed_ that day.

"Shiro-chan?"

"...It's nothing. He was just being an ass like usual. Just give him a good punch for me during your match, okay?" she concluded, making the redhead laugh heartily with a nod before their attention finally went back to the current match between Midoriya and Todoroki.

It was amazing to see two great forces clashing at such a scale. Midoriya's powerful Quirk has smashed through each one of Todoroki's towering ice walls. However, while Todoroki's attacks seemed endless, Midoriya's came at an immediate price. Each powerful flick only further crippled him further. It was excruciating to watch as his chances were limited to the number of usable fingers.

"Man, Todoroki can shoot off powerful attacks that cover a lot of ground with no lag time!" Kirishima mused animately. "Midoriya's Quirk is cool too, but he always gets hurt. Even with my hardening Quirk, there's a limit to how much damage I can take. Quirks like Todoroki's and Bakugou's are always at an advantage!"

"Quirks are phyiscal abilities, too," Shiro shook her head at the comment. "I'm sure you're aware of what happened after I overused my Quirk back at USJ. Everyone has their limits and risks."

 _Like how Todoroki is slowly being consumed with frostbite,_ she narrowed her eyes at the male. _That idiot._

* * *

"Why are you going so far?" Todoroki let out a chilled breath as he lifted himself up with a slight tremble.

With both his right hand and entire left arm incapacitated, Midoriya was a sitting duck for Todoroki to send his final blow. But Midoriya hadn't let the blow finish him off. To everyone's great surprise, he had blasted both Todoroki and the wall away with his _broken_ right index finger.

"There's a limit to how much cold your body can take, isn't there? You're trembling," Midoriya straighten himself up with great effort. His index finger looked ghastly, but so did the rest of his appendages. It didn't matter, though. "Isn't that something you could easily solve by using the heat from your left side? Everyone's fighting with everything they've got to win and get closer to their dream... To become number one... But you... You want to win with just half your strength?!" He curled up his fist despite the injury. "You haven't put a single scratch on me yet, you know!"

Todoroki narrowed his eyes. "Midoriya... What are you planning? Everything I've got?" he gritted his teeth angrily and ran towards the male. "Did my damn old man buy you off or something? Now I'm angry!"

As he ran towards Midoriya to get in close combat, he felt his body not being able to keep up. He was sure that everyone else noticed too; it was obvious. But the moment he lifted his foot, the male came charging at him as well, and Todoroki felt the punch in his gut before he even saw it. Grazing his right hand across Midoriya's broken arm, he was thrown backward with colossal force.

Letting out a pained cough, Todoroki got back up. _Why...?_ Ice formed under his feet and trailed towards his opponent again, but it was significantly slower this time. Even so, he didn't let up his ice attacks. Midoriya long had run out of usable fingers to flick his powerful attacks at him, yet he was still able to retaliate his blows. "Why are you... Going so far?"

"Because I want to live up to everyone's expectations," Midoriya staggered towards him with resolve. "I want to be able to smile... And respond to them... To be a cool hero... That's what I want to be!"

 _"Shoto..."_

His mother's voice cut through his memories just as Midoriya landed another punch in his gut.

"Everyone's giving it their all! There's no way I can know all of your circumstances, or your resolve. But for you to become number one without giving it your all, to completely reject your father..." the male stepped up with a stumble. "Right now, I think you should stop screwing around!"

 _Shut up..._ The effects of his ice was starting to numb his entire right arm, and soon, it'll reach the rest of his body. It would all be solved if he used his fire side, but he won't. Todoroki gritted his teeth as memories of his harsh upbringing flashed through his mind once again. His mother always tried to stop his father from pushing him further when he was too weak to continue. It was because of him that she always got pushed around by his bastard father. It was because of him that she cried so much!

 _"No... I don't want to be like Father... I don't want to become someone who bullies you, Mother!"_

 _"But you want to be a hero, don't you? It's okay for you to be one. As long as you have a future you're sure about."_

"That's why... I will win!" Midoriya came up before him, his right arm emitting a powerful glow to knock him out. "I will surpass you!"

 _"Where's Mother?"_

 _"She injured you, so I put her in a hospital."_

 _"It's your fault... You're the one who made Mother..."_

"I will reject..." Todoroki lifted himself up again. He was trembling harder than ever now. "My old man's power...!"

"It's **_your_** power, isn't it?!" Midoriya shouted in frustration.

 _Your power. Your power. YOUR power._

Those simple words seemed to have snapped something back into his mind as more memories flooded back. He realized that people have been saying the same thing throughout his life, but he just never understood it. His mother, All Might, even Shiro...

The look in Shiro's ruby eyes reappeared across his mind and he felt a weight lift off his body. This was what she was trying to get him to realize the entire time. _Before I knew it, I had forgotten..._

 _"You don't have to be a prisoner of your blood. It's okay for you to become who you want to be."_

His mother had said those words to him that one night he came crying to her. That night, she watched the entire interview of All Might with him and encouraged him to become the hero _he_ wanted to be.

 _"I'm still my own person. Just like how you are your own person, Todoroki-san. So the person you choose to become is from your own heart, isn't it?"_

 _The person I choose to become...?_ That was all the encouragement he needed to ignite the fire on his left side. Instantaneously, all the numbness on his body melted away as orange flames set the stadium ablaze.

 _"Th-This is—!"_ Present Mic's surprised howl cut through the stage.

"The fire's here...!" Uraraka braced herself as the heat blew up towards the student section much like the ice had done in the previous round. Everyone was instantly sweating from the blast of heat. "S-So hot!"

"He used it..." Shiro's eyes were as wide as saucers. _Midoriya actually made him use his left side..._ _Even if it meant that he was helping his enemy become stronger..._

 _"SHOTO!"_ Endeavor's voice boomed across the stadium. His hell flame was lit brightly as victory etched across his face. "Have you finally accepted yourself?! That's it! Good! It all starts from here for you! With my blood, you will surpass me... You will fulfill my desire!"

 _"Endeavor suddenly shouts encouragement...?"_ Present Mic questioned. _"Such a doting father."_

 _As if,_ Shiro crossed her arms before looking down at the two males in the ring as they got ready to send the final blow. _But nonetheless..._ _I'm glad that Midoriya was finally able to get you to see the beauty that is **your** power, Todoroki._

* * *

"Todoroki-kun advances to the next round!"

Murmurs sounded as the first match of the second round ended abruptly with Cementoss' interference. Nonetheless, the force of the clash of two powers hitting the giant cement wall ultimately caused Midoriya to be thrown out of bounds, thus declaring Todoroki the winner. While the former was wheeled to Recovery Girl, Todoroki walked away with his eyes void of emotion and his mind spinning.

" _'You're in my way,'_ " Endeavor stood in the middle of the tunnel with a proud smirk on his face. "You're not going to say that this time?"

The hero was met with silence from his son once again, but he was not deterred after that spectacular display of power. Instead, he glanced at Todoroki's torn shirt that was destroyed from the fire.

"You need to control your left side... You're just letting it all out and it's dangerous. But you have abandoned your childish tantrum and finally become a perfect upgrade of me. After you graduate, come work for me. I'll lead you down the path of the mighty!"

"There's no way I can abandon anything," Todoroki said softly as he looked at his left hand. "It's not something that can be so easily reversed. It's just... Back then... For that one moment, I forgot about you."

Endeavor's icy blue eyes widened as his son walked past him.

"Whether that is a good thing or bad thing... Whether it's correct or not... I need to think about it."

All he knew for certain was the answer to who he's choosing to become...

 _...A hero worthy of **my** powers._

* * *

"We should go check on Deku-kun!" Uraraka urged as she shot up from her seat after Present Mic announced a short break while Cementoss fixed up the stadium. "He looked really beaten up!"

"More like he beat himself up—"

While Mineta was immediately shut up by a slap from Tsuyu's tongue, Shiro and Iida had followed along. That last blow aside, Midoriya had already sustained repeated abuse on his injured limbs. Even if Recovery Girl can fix anything, it will take a lot longer to heal something so severe.

Heading down, Shiro caught sight of Bakugou slouching in his seat with gritted teeth. He was bothered and irritated. Though, it was to be expected since the two had put on such an intense battle. _And it's not like it takes a lot to make him this way. The most important thing right now is to make sure that Midoriya is okay,_ she thought and continued on her way.

Reaching Recovery Girl's office, Uraraka and Iida were the first ones to barge in without thinking to knock. Tsuyu, Mineta, and Shiro followed behind moments later.

"Midoriya-kun!"

"Deku-kun, are you okay?!"

"Ack!" A scrawny, golden haired man in an oversized suit was sitting beside Midoriya and looked quite startled at the sudden intrusion. Letting out a breath as they bounded up to the bed-ridden male, he regarded them warily. "You scared me..."

"Oh, nice to meet you..." Uraraka realized and greeted the unfamiliar man.

"You're all so noisy," Recovery Girl chided from the other side of the bed.

As the rest fretted over Midoriya, Shiro took a moment to stare at the man in the suit. He looked familiar, but at the same time, he didn't. And for some reason, he grew very nervous when he caught her staring.

"Everyone... What about the next match?" Midoriya rasped out softly, regaining Shiro's attention and she dropped her skepticism, much to the man's relief. They explained the situation to Midoriya while Mineta unnecessarily rubbed some salt to injury. But as usual, Tsuyu was there to admonish him. The familiar scene made Midoriya crack a smile.

"Be quiet, now!" Recovery Girl ushered them out. "I know you're worried, but I've got to do surgery now. Go on now, get out of here!"

"S-Surgery?!"

"That's a big deal, isn't it? Will his injuries be completely healed?!"

"Is he dying—?"

Abruptly, they were all shoved out of the makeshift clinic, leaving just Midoriya and the mysterious man inside. Recovery Girl managed to shoo them away, but Shiro lingered just a moment longer.

"He'll be okay, right?"

"Don't worry about it," the old woman gave her hand a small pat. "Just leave it to me."

Shiro could tell that Recovery Girl was troubled with the amount of damage that Midoriya sustained, especially since he was _always_ being sent to get fixed up. But with a small nod, she trusted the hero to do her job. "Wait," she wondered. "Who was that man inside with Midoriya-san?"

"Ah... " the hero blinked before nudging her away. "He's just visiting. Now, be on your way. Shoo! I have a surgery to perform."

Though the girl didn't look all too convinced, she allowed the door to close on her. Coming back inside the clinic, Recovery Girl sighed and walked over to the two.

"I hope you two know the severity of this situation. Midoriya, the bones in your right arm were shattered... It'll never be the same as it was before and most likely leave scars. To push and light a fire under a child who would destroy his body this much for what he yearns for... I don't like it," she looked up at All Might. "You're going too far. You, and this boy."

"Sorry..." they both apologized.

The woman sighed again and started wheeling out equipment for the surgery. "I'll heal you up enough to allow you to walk for now. But let me be clear on one thing... I will not heal injuries like this anymore," she said seriously, directing the warning towards both the boy and All Might. "You must find a way for him to use his power in a way that is not so self-destructive."

Behind the door, Shiro widened her eyes at the implications of Recovery Girl's words. She didn't know what compelled her to stay and listen, but she was just slightly suspicious. Now she didn't know what to think.

Just who was that man to Midoriya, and what kind of destructive Quirk did the boy possess?

* * *

 **Whoop whoop, we finally know what happened between Shiro and Bakugou ;) even tho the reveal took so many chapters pahaha. I just couldn't find the right place to put it until now. Hope it wasn't disappointing? More things happened in this chapter... Suspicious Shiro is suspicious. Plus, who doesn't love friendship!KiriBaku? My boy Kiri is a best boy :')**

 **Don't forget to review! I like attention so please leave one for this poor author uwu**


	17. Versus

**Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _versus_

.

.

.

Overhead, Present Mic's excited voice boomed as he commented on Dark Shadow's impressive attacks against Iida. However, aside from Iida's strength, he was fast—he was the fastest in the class. But Shiro wasn't paying as much attention to the details as she sat in the player waiting room, face scrunched as she tried to will away all the swirling thoughts in her head.

It was hard to grasp her emotions but she knew what she had eavesdropped at Recovery Girl's really made her concerned for the green haired boy. She considered him a friend and his condition was extremely worrisome. All Quirks had its limitations, sure, but was it possible for it to cause as much pain to the user?

Shiro closed her eyes. It wasn't as if she didn't know the dangers of her own Quirk and how much harm it can do to _her,_ but that was why she had Aizawa with her all these years to guide her and keep her Quirk in check. _That man..._ her thoughts traveled to the person in the room when she visited. Perhaps he's like an Eraserhead to Midorya?

It was hard to imagine such a weak and scrawny looking man able to handle someone with such a powerful Quirk like Midoriya's, but she won't judge too much by appearance. _Her_ mentor dresses like a bum without a care in the world, after all.

The door creaked, drawing Shiro away from her musings and to Iida. She had lost track of time and didn't even hear the end of the battle between the male and Tokoyami.

"Iida-san," she looked him over. There weren't any major scratches on him and he didn't look hurt at all. "How did the match with Tokoyami-san go?"

Iida, still grasping to the little adrenaline from his match, described in detail on how he was able to maneuverer out of Dark Shadow's line of attacks with his Recipro Burst before grabbing Tokoyami by surprise and pushing him out of bounds. Shiro was regretful that she missed his power move for the second time, but she had no doubt the effectiveness of his attack that got him the win.

 _Tokoyami's style is to attack with Dark Shadow from a distance. When Iida got close to him so quick, he must not had time to switch to defense,_ Shiro thought. It finally got her thinking about her own opponent as well. If she recalled, that was the girl who can produce vines from her hair, and if she were to guess, Shiozaki will be fighting from a distance like Tokoyami's style.

She needed to get close to the girl to throw her out, but getting caught in one of the vines would put her at a disadvantage. Such was the downside of her Quirk not being entirely physical.

"Are you ready for your match, Shiro-kun?" Iida asked the pensive girl. "Class 1-B seemed to hold a grudge against our class because of Bakugou-kun's insensitive provoking. As class president, I should be keeping the harmony between us but I have failed!"

"It's not your fault, Iida-san," Shiro gave the president a pointed look. "Besides, Bakugou got his fair share of retaliation by class 1-B during the cavalry battle. His big mouth even got him..." she trailed off, suddenly a bulb lighting above her head. _That gives me an idea..._

 _"YAHOO! Players get ready for the third match!"_ Present Mic's announcement overhead was loud as Shiro stood up.

"Thanks, Iida-san!" Her pensive demeanor cleared as she walked over towards the door. "As expected of a class president!"

Iida looked confused as she left, but her compliment sparked a reminder to give his brother a call. It was a good feeling to be appreciated for his role as the class president even if he wasn't quite sure what he did. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed his brother's number. He wondered if his brother was watching the sports festival.

 _"I am currently on a mission and cannot answer the phone."_

"Nii-san..." Iida stared at his screen before shutting it off with a content expression. "Do your best."

Sure, he still had a long way to go before he becomes a great hero and leader like Ingenium, but he hoped to be making his big brother proud.

* * *

 _"And there they are! On the right, it's the assassin from Class B! Pretty things have thorns, you know!"_

Shiro stared at her opponent from across the ring. Indeed, while Shiozaki Ibara looked as docile as a lamb, the girl had to be strong to have made it so high on the leader board for both the entrance exam and the festival. She even defeated Mina, who was arguably the most athletic girl in her class.

 _"On the left, it's the dominatrix—"_

Before Shiro could give the Voice hero a piece of her mind and dare him to finish that sentence, Shiozaki called out with a raise of her hand.

"Please excuse the interruption," the girl apologized with a face of dismay. "What do you mean by 'assassin'? I only came to find victory, not to take my opponent's life. I wished to enter U.A. High School not for wicked reason, but for the salvation of others..."

 _T-Too bright,_ Shiro winced as a light seemed to have shone through in response to the girl's holy intentions. While the hero was profusely apologizing for his misspoken introduction, Shiro felt a strange calming effect wash over her. Whatever it was, it was refreshing to know that class 1-B weren't _all_ full of Monomas.

 _"Let's get on with the match,"_ came Aizawa's annoyed drone at Present Mic's frivolousness. _"Stop with the outrageous introductions."_

 _"E-Eh! Fine..."_

Shiozaki then bowed at Shiro, "I'm sorry for interrupting during your introduction."

"Don't worry about it, really," the girl waved it off as she got into battle stance with her _unconventional_ weapon in hand. "May the best win."

 _"START!"_

On cue, the vines from Shiozaki's head started to grow longer and stronger, and it was headed straight towards Shiro. Anticipating this, Shiro was quick on her feet and dodged the oncoming attacks while her right eye spun.

She took off again as the vines shot towards her again. With her right eye spinning, she was able to dodge the attacks easier while closing in her opponent on the other side. Seeing that she was getting closer, Shiozaki expelled her vines at a more forceful pace. The blur of green was causing chaos around the ring.

 _WHOOSH!_

 _BAM!_

 _CRASH!_

 _I'm not as fast as Iida, but..._ In the midst of the vine attacks, one shot up from below Shiro's feet and made a move to restrain her. _I'm glad the years of training with Eraserhead always comes in handy!_ She quickly grabbed onto one of the strong vines above her head to lift herself off from the ground before flipping her body over the attacking mass.

 _"Aisaka closes in on Shiozaki!"_ Present Mic howled excitedly. _"Will she deliver her attack now?!"_

 _Not yet,_ she furrowed her brows as she switched over to her left eye. The vines came at her once again, but as she suspected, it was less intense to avoid accidentally hitting Shiozaki herself. Doing somersaults around the girl, the vines chased after her with numerous close calls. However, she was able to dodge the bulk of it with great concentration and a balance of luck and skill.

 _"Eh? Aisaka is not attacking at all! What is she planning?"_

It only took a few more moments to see what was going on, and then the audience cheered with awe. Shiro was using her opponent's vines to her advantage—she realized that attacking Shiozaki would be a hard thing to do with her vines protecting and attacking at the same time, so instead, she allowed the vines to keep attacking her with near-precise accuracy so it will go where she wanted it to. What it was doing was caging her opponent in without Shiozaki even realizing it since she was too busy concentrating on Shiro.

Within minutes, the attacks seized. Shiozaki Ibara was effectively trapped. Even though her vines can be broken off at any point in length, it was futile because the weight of the vines will only come crashing down at her. Shiro had also wrapped her long whip around the vines and is ready to tighten and capture her if she chooses to fight back. With a small sigh, Shiozaki raised a hand in defeat.

"Shiozaki-san forfeits," Midnight's flogger raised with the winning call. "Aisaka-san moves on to the next round!"

* * *

"Shiro-chan!" Uraraka greeted as soon as Shiro walked up to the student section. Some others in the class followed with a wave or gave her a short greeting in response. "Great job! It's awesome that you're advancing to the third round with Iida-kun!"

"Thanks," Shiro gave the girl a small nod and looked around, her mind immediately returning to her worry about the green haired male and his destructive Quirk. Normally, Recovery Girl would be done with healing someone within a short time frame so they can come watch the next match, but considering the extent of Midoriya's injuries and what she had overheard the hero say, it shouldn't be a surprise that the male was still out of commission...

The fight below between Kirishima and Bakugou seemed to be going well with the redhead holding his ground while the latter continuously delivered his explosive blows. Personality-wise, it was a no-brainer that Kirishima was a lot more likable than Bakugou, and it was pretty obvious among the students with who they're cheering for more vocally. On the next section over, even Tetsutetsu was rooting on Kirishima.

 _Yesterday's enemy is today's friend, I guess,_ she blinked.

The battle dragged on for a while longer before Kirishima cracked. He wasn't able to keep his hard form for too long because it greatly strained his body, so with one final explosive blow, Bakugou knocked the male out.

"Ah, Deku-kun!" Uraraka suddenly called in surprise. Shiro turned to the mentioned male and took in his form that was bandaged from the waist up. She wasn't sure if she was relieved that he was out so early; but at least he didn't look like he was in pain anymore.

"Midoriya-chan, your surgery went well?" Tsuyu asked eagerly.

"Yeah," the male nodded and took the seat next to Uraraka. "Recovery Girl healed me enough to walk."

"Shouldn't you be resting...?" Uraraka asked out of worry. Midoriya shook his head firmly.

"I bumped into Iida-kun right before this. His match is the next one, isn't it? I already missed so many, so I want to be able to see the rest. I want to properly watch the efforts of everyone who wants to become a hero."

His words made not only Uraraka, but the rest of them nod and pay attention. He was absolutely right about everyone trying their best, so they wouldn't fault him for trying come watch and support his classmates.

 _"With that vicious carpet-bombing, Bakugou advances to the third round!"_ Present Mic announced as the big screen flashed with the final two match-ups before the final round. _"And that completes the final four!"_

Everyone watched the screen and a few pairs of eyes darted towards Shiro. She was one of the final four—it was down to Todoroki vs. Iida and Shiro vs. Bakugou. One look at the blonde on stage was enough for them to feel a great sense of uneasiness. And it was for a good reason.

Bakugou's eyes were trained on Shiro, unmoving but dangerously intense before he moved off stage.

 _The tension..._

Meanwhile, Present Mic was getting ready to announce the next match with great enthusiasm. Todoroki and Iida both came from well-known hero families, so the battle between them could accurately be described as battle of the elites.

Iida was driven for this, as he had mentioned that he wanted to be a hero just like his brother, Ingenium. On the other hand, having recently overcome the struggle in choosing between powers, Todoroki was looking as calm and unreadable as ever. The battle with Midoriya left him with a lot to think about, so everyone wondered if he would use his left side during this battle.

Shiro knew that Iida's insane speed was one of his strongest points, and if he played it like he did with Tokoyami, he may just have a chance at intercepting Todoroki before any major attack is drawn out. Tokoyami is in no way weak or easy to defeat, but that just goes to show the raw capability that Iida has.

However, nothing with Todoroki is simple either. Like herself, Shiro knew Iida will be having a hard time with his opponent. Bakugou and Todoroki may be polar opposites, but when it came to attack strength and advanced technique, they are the best in the class.

 _Best in the class, huh?_

Any other person might have felt intimidated in knowing that Bakugou was looking forward to fighting them, but Shiro found herself smiling a bit once she glanced up at the announcement cube where Aizawa was watching. _I promised to not let him down, so come at me with whatever you've got, Bakugou._

 _"Todoroki advances to the final without showing his flames!"_

At Present Mic's loud announcement, the result was clear. Whether it was her or Bakugou, the winner will be up against Todoroki for the first-place medal.

* * *

 _"Ladies and gentlemen, here comes our next two competitors! ARE YOU READY?!"_

The giant crowd was once again hyped up by the Voice hero as they anticipated the two competitors' appearance. The picture of Shiro and Bakugou flashed before the big screen and numerous chatters interweaved in on the cheers.

"This year's first years are all amazing!"

"Yeah, that explosion boy's Quirk is so strong, it's no wonder he made it this far!"

"The girl, too! I underestimated her, but her Quirk as its own merits!"

"Looks like the draft will be interesting this year!"

"Shiro-san and Kacchan..." Midoriya stared up at the screen with slight apprehension. The two never got along, but then again, Bakugou didn't really get along with anyone. He wasn't sure how this match will go since his childhood friend was so serious about fighting Shiro; the blonde was finally getting his chance now.

Will Bakugou win? Or will Shiro? Both of them were strong and a lot more capable of a fight than most, but being the over-analyzer that he is, he couldn't help but have the possibilities play out in his mind.

"You know, we had a talk about limits and stuff, but I'm still a little worried about Shiro-chan," Kirishima said as he rubbed his nose. He was bandaged up from his fight with the blonde. "Bakugou's smart and can see through weaknesses. He likes to go after stuff like that."

"That's true," Sero piped after the redhead with a thoughtful look, but his face scrunched slightly. "If you really think about it... Doesn't Shiro-chan do the same thing?"

"You're not wrong..." the whole class realized.

 _"It's Aisaka Shiragiku versus Bakugou Katsuki! Watch carefully, mass media! How will a crafty princess fair against a fire-breathing dragon?!"_

Shiro was walking up to the stage where Bakugou stood on the other side. His expression was that of a battle-hungry wolf; the slight twitch of his hands only indicated his readiness for this long awaited battle. She didn't back down either and showed him a calm and calculating glare.

 _"Now—"_ The Voice hero leaned into the mic to cut through the suspense. _"START!"_

There was no hesitation on either sides as they rushed to make the first move.

* * *

The sound of explosions was ever-present as the battle drew out between the two competitors on stage. Bakugou was relentless with his attacks, but Shiro didn't give anyone the chance to view her as some helpless girl against his explosions as she carried out her own defenses.

"What do you think, Eraserhead?"

It was a rare moment where Present Mic didn't speak directly into the mic as he gaged his best friend's expression under those bandages. If he were to be honest, he was concerned for the girl. It wasn't as if he viewed her as weak, but it was more of the fact that Bakugou was too strong, too ruthless. Strength-wise, he felt that it was another unfortunate match-up.

"If you're thinking whether this is a bad match-up, the answer should be clear," Aizawa said through his bandages, though his illusive commentary didn't give the Voice hero a clue of what he was referring to.

The battle has gone on for a few minutes with Bakugou and Shiro in close combat. Bakugou once again made the ring look like a hazard zone with cloudy smoke with his explosions, but he was being extra careful. Shiro was getting away with minimal damage as she looked to be accustomed to his moves while still learning new ones on the way.

Aizawa watched in silence. The girl was also testing the blonde out. Her every move was calculated and he had no doubt she had something up her sleeve. Aizawa then glanced at Present Mic again, who was giving him a confused pout, and faced forward again without much of a concern.

 _You got this, Shiro._

* * *

Shiro could feel Bakugou's explosions were getting more and more destructive after each fire, but she had anticipated all that from watching him battle time and time again.

"What wrong, huh? Are you running away?!" Bakugou shouted through another one of his explosions and jumped out from the black smoke that it caused straight to Shiro with his other palm popping. "Get serious and come at me!"

Shiro dodged his incoming blow and tried to kick him away, but he jumped back to avoid the impact. She admitted that because of his Quirk, she wasn't able to fight him as head-on as she'd liked, but she was far from just aimlessly running around Bakugou in circles.

"Running away?" she huffed with a plotting grin. It was that moment of pause that Bakugou got a good look at her. Specifically, at her left eye that was spinning wildly.

Bakugou was on full alert as his palms ignited dangerously. _What is she planning?_

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Shiro said as he aimed another explosion her way. _I'd have to thank_ _Midoriya and Todoroki for this!_ She dodged again and appeared behind him. The blonde grew confused for a split second before dark clouds rolled in above the opening of the large arena.

 _BOOOOM!_

Curiously, the noise wasn't from one of Bakugou's explosions. The crowd gasped as rain poured down in a rapid shower.

 _"WHAT? What is this?! Didn't the forecast say that it was going to be sunny all day today?!"_ Present Mic exclaimed and peered over his sunglasses at the pouring rain. The entire stadium was now gray and gloomy!

 _"All that cooling and heating from the previous match with Midoriya and Todoroki caused a shift in weather,"_ Aizawa replied in monotone. _"It created a probability for rain and she used it to her advantage."_

 _"Amazing!"_

"Ha? You think a little rain will stop me?!" Bakugou taunted as he charged at her with full force. Throwing his hands back, he intended to use his explosions to propel himself right at her. His eyes widened when nothing came out. He tried again, but his palms gave off a pathetic _pop_.

 _That little...!_ He realized with anger bubbling through his very core. His Quirk worked by igniting the nitroglycerin in his sweat to create explosions, and she knew that because he remember _telling_ her. He didn't doubt that she'd figure it out on her own eventually, but she really went after his weakness this time and washed away his ignition.

"Now that's taken cared of..." Shiro's ruby eyes glinting through the downpour as she watched his expression. "How's this for being serious?"

The grin on Bakugou's face was animalistic. "Now you're talkin', _Aisaka!"_

* * *

"You can't be serious now... She actually defused Bakugou? He's not invincible after all," Kaminari blanched. He was half admiring the girl and half fearing for her life. The look on Bakugou's face was deadlier than anything he's seen yet.

"Did she have to make it rain on _us_ though?" Sero cupped his hands up for emphasis as the rain pooled in his palms. After that overwhelming defeat by Todoroki, he was done dealing with anything to do with water or ice for a _long_ time.

"I don't mind the rain at all," Tsuyu revealed with a finger tipping against her mouth. "It's refreshing."

Uraraka was about to comment something as well when she turned towards Midoriya and found him mumbling wildly to himself. Watching the intense close combat battle between the two below really got his mind turning for future references and she had always admired that observational side of him. "Deku-kun is fired up!" she chuckled.

On the next section over, class 1-B was watching with awe despite the rain. Kendo nudged Monoma on the back with a teasing grin. "You really picked a fight with two outrageous people, huh?"

The blonde waved the girl off. "She just got lucky the weather was on her side. Plus his Quirk's not all that either if rain is his downfall," he insisted.

However, what he was actually feeling was unease. Kendo was right, but he wasn't going to admit that out loud. He will admit (only to himself, of course) that Shiro was one hell of an opponent to go against Bakugou with her quick wit and adaptability to different Quirks. She was even able to defeat Shiozaki by using the girl's Quirk against herself!

"So it all ends here, huh?" Tetsutetsu watched with furrowed brows. He didn't know whether to be happy or upset at the coming result. "That guy beat Kirishima with his overpowering Quirk but now... It looks like as long as it keeps raining, she'll win. The next stage is against the ice guy... Agh, it's a Class 1-A paradise. Damn it!"

"No, it won't keep raining," Monoma corrected. "Her Quirk only allowed her to manipulate the chances of rain from the stored reserve in the clouds. She's not in control of how much rain or how long it will continue. Judging by the amount of water that evaporated around here, I'd say the rain will only last about three minutes, tops."

Others tend to overlook the fact that Monoma was one of the more intelligent students in the school because of his passive-aggressiveness and disagreeable nature especially towards those in class 1-A. But his classmates knew him and believed his judgment.

"So you're saying the best chance that she has in defeating Blasty is during that time-span, huh?" Tetsutetsu wondered. Monoma voiced an agreement before immediately shrugging it off.

"Not like I _care_ about who wins. Class 1-A are all detestable—"

"Yeah, yeah," Kendo's hand chopped down on his neck and made him nearly bite his tongue. He shot her an incredulous glare, but she ignored it. "Just watch the match."

* * *

It was a lot easier to inflict damage on the male now that his Quirk was temporarily out of commission, but Shiro knew that her slight advantage over him won't last. _One minute left,_ she counted in her head as she ducked her body and slid her foot out to sweep at Bakugou. He jumped and she kicked her foot up, but he blocked again with his arms crossed out in front of him.

 _"It's an all out combat between Bakugou and Aisaka!"_ Present Mic screeched at the progress. It has been like this for the past two minutes—their fight was more like a synchronized rain dance and neither was letting up. _"Aisaka's planning something, but what?!"_

Bakugou took this chance to aim his foot at her while she was still low to the ground, but instinctively she flipped back with one hand as the other swung the whip forward to restrain his leg and toss him aside.

"Stop struggling and lose!" Bakugou sneered as he aimed a fist at her. "I'll finish up what we started last time!"

"Big talk for someone who can't use his Quirk anymore!" she countered by kicking her feet up at him once again.

"I told you..." There was a grin on Bakugou's face as he chose to grab her leg instead of blocking himself. Shiro immediately knew something was amiss when she started to feel a small, almost electrical sting on her leg and before she could knock the male away with her free leg, she felt immense pain.

 _BOOM!_

He'd managed to use her skin to minimize water contact and reactivate his Quirk from trace amounts of nitroglycerin in his pores. "A little rain can't stop me!"

 _Damn it!_ She quickly jumped away and winced when she stood back up. The explosion was weaker than normal, but having it detonate on her skin still caused a good amount of damage. But she had more things to worry about now—she hadn't been able to throw her opponent out and the sun was peaking out again.

 _"The rain stopped?!"_ the Voice hero exclaimed. _"Aisaka missed her chance and Bakugou has retaliated!"_

Bakugou grinned once again as he felt his hands itch for another round of explosions. The thirst to win was boiling in his body now. He ran towards Shiro with fire in his eyes, palms out. "You're done now!"

"As... If...!" Shiro growled as the dials in her eyes spun wildly. What kind of strategist would she be if she only had one trick up her sleeve? With a determined scowl, she concentrated and channeled everything onto the ground to aim her target. Everyone watched with a start as a section of the cement before Bakugou became flexible and soft, and then with even more surprise when a stream of liquefied cement shot up and hardened once more.

Bakugou had to jump and aim a string of explosions in front of him to blow away the jagged mountain of hardened cement spikes. Pieces of debris flew across the ring in chaos but Shiro wasn't stopping there. She continued to liquefy areas of cement before hardening them again with her rewrite of the cement's structural integrity, creating a terrain similar to a disaster area in USJ.

 _"Aisaka completely turned the match around again! To think she is undoing Cementoss' hard work on the ring! This is too exciting!"_

 _BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!_

Bakugou growled as he felt his right hand cramp up from expelling repeated explosions. He couldn't get rid of the debris with a giant firework of explosions because unlike Uraraka's one-shot meteor shower, Shiro was carefully timing her attacks to edge him out of the ring. He had to aim his attacks carefully as well to prevent that from happening.

 _"What is happening down there?! I can't see a thing!"_

Two more spikes rose towards him from the back and he jumped, blowing them up with his left palm. At the same time a whip flew out from within the smoke and snapped around his torso, taking this chance with the aid of his forceful explosion to sharply pull his body across the air.

"Ba...Ku...Gou!" Standing on top of a raised cement platform was Shiro as she channeled all her strength into her task. She fully intended to throw him out once and for all.

The flash of anger on Bakugou's face morphed back into excitement. _Heh..._ He concentrated his power in his cramping palms. Uraraka may have come close to testing his limit, but Shiro had done it. Still being dragged through midair, he let out repeated explosions left and right to change the course of his route. Seeing that, Shiro immediately released the whip around his torso and jumped across the uneven terrain before throwing her whip around a jagged spike to swing herself straight towards Bakugou with her overworked eyes spinning. This was the _last_ chance.

Bakugou's body was propelled in a circular motion to create faster velocity and caused the the debris around him to tornado around. One of the sharp edges nicked the side of his face and drew blood while another slammed into his chest, but he was too fired up to feel the pain.

 _"T-This is—! They are like two human projectiles headed for each other b-but... OI! ISN'T THAT TOO DANGEROUS?!"_ Present Mic shouted in alarm.

Anyone could see that Bakugou had the upper hand with strength behind his explosions, but Shiro's eyes were still spinning and that added unpredictability into what was going to happen. If the girl was going to throw herself head-on, she had to have a good plan or this was a suicide mission!

* * *

 **I really should be studying for my exam and doing the 94738478 assignments that I have, but here we are. I was just too excited to get this battle scene out! Now I will slink back into my corner and study...**

 **Please send me some motivation and luck (or leave a nice lil review)! God knows I need it, LOL.**


	18. For Better or Worse

**Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _for better or worse_

.

.

.

 _BOOOOOOM!_

The pressure of the explosion was so great that it shook the stadium and caused a great wind current to follow. Like the rest of the crowd, class 1-A had to brace themselves from the strong current. Some shut their eyes in horror while others, with the same emotion, couldn't peel their eyes away.

Then, all was silent as black smoke mushroomed from the center of the stage.

"I... I can't bare to look!" Mina covered her face as Sero let out a strained chuckle. Really, what was with Todoroki and Bakugou always showing off in the most terrifyingly upscale way?

"He really didn't hold back," Kirishima's brows furrowed with awe and worry, eyes searched for the manipulating girl. Going head on at an impact like _that_ was too dangerous for even Shiro and her eyes. "I hope Shiro-chan is okay..."

 _"Ehhh, what is going on down there? Midnight?"_ Present Mic questioned frantically. The smoke was clearing in an agonizing pace and everyone was at the edge of their seats to get a look at the aftermath of the collision. _"Surely Cementoss stopped it?! Right? Right, Eraserhead?!"_

 _"Quiet."_

No one made a peep as the dark smoke finally dispersed from the arena. Cementoss was still in his seat, meaning that he hadn't intervened, while Midnight was fanning the smoke away from her face.

Everyone then shot their eyes towards Bakugou, who was surrounded by piles of rubble he'd disintegrated during the explosion and _inches_ away from the out-of-bounds line. He wiped away the sweat mixed with a bit of blood from the cut on his face with the back of his hand. No one could see his hands tremble but himself.

Meanwhile, leaning against a pile of broken cement to keep her standing, Shiro was breathing hard. She had managed to escape the explosion at the last second when she created more cement spikes in front of her and swung herself out to before going in to attack Bakugou from the side. However, the great pressure forced her back and if it weren't for her left eye, she would've been completely blown out of the stadium.

Shiro felt the nerves around her eyes tingle and burn. She was losing focus, but it didn't matter. She had manipulated the probability of being blown out the best she could...

"Aisaka-san..." Midnight started the call.

It was her right leg, the one that was injured by Bakugou earlier. It wasn't able root itself in place as well as her left foot.

"...Is out of bounds, so Bakugou-kun moves on to the next round!"

* * *

Shiro was sent to Recovery Girl's clinic.

Because of her leg injury, she had to be wheeled by medical robots. Recovery Girl started her check-up right away and wrapped up anything she couldn't completely heal, which happened to be the burn on her leg since the priority was healing the nerves around her eyes. She had overdone it with her Quirk again, though this time less severe because she wasn't stupidly trying to do the impossible at least.

Bakugou was just too strong for her to face head on. _For now._

Shiro pouted regrettably. Watching the blonde's match with Uraraka previously had given her a good estimate of his power, or so she thought. During the match, she carefully measured the amount of time he needed to charge up his explosions for larger scaled attacks, and subsequently dosed him with a hefty amount of rain to detriment that process while giving her enough time to concentrate and store up energy for her rewrite. She had everything planned out, but she was still surprised by the extent Bakugou was able to exert his Quirk.

 _Agh, _Eraserhead's_ going to lecture me for sure... _Shiro sighed. Her time to shine at the sports festival this year ended with this defeat. _"S_ tupid Prickhead."

On cue, the door to the clinic suddenly banged open.

"Recovery Girl!" he called out loud with his usual irritable tone. "I need you to—" his eyes immediately narrowed and his teeth clenched at the sight of Shiro. The Recovery hero was currently in the back to grab something, so it was just the two in the room. "It's _you!"_

"Obviously. You're the one who got me here," the girl retorted incredulously. "Why are _you_ here?"

Bakugou shoved his hands into his pockets under her scrutiny and gave her a tight-lipped glare. He wasn't about to reveal that his hands cramped from being forced to use his Quirk so many times by her. "Tch! Where's that damn Recovery Girl?" he said, completely ignoring her question.

"Whatever!" Shiro frowned with insult and tried turn her body away so she didn't have to see his infuriating face anymore, but that was not such a great idea as pain shot up her right leg. "Ow ow ow...!" she winced before turning back to the blonde, just missing the concerned flash in his eyes before it morphed back to his normal scowl. There was heavy tension in the room and she took a moment before deciding to voice her thoughts.

"Let me make one thing clear. I'll win next time and I won't let you off so easily. Got that?"

"Ha?" The annoyed look on the blonde's face deepened even more, though she thought she saw a hint of respect in his eyes as he sneered. "That's my line, _Pigtails,_ " he spat with annoyance. "It wasn't an indisputable win. Our fight's not over yet 'cause you were still standing at the end. I'll destroy you completely next time."

Clearly, Bakugou wasn't satisfied until his opponents dropped dead—not literally, she hoped. Having only pushed her out of bounds with her still standing, it wasn't a win in his book. But, however condescending his words were, Shiro couldn't believe she found it to be slightly encouraging.

It was just that... Bakugou wasn't looking down on her. It was as if that was his own little way of telling her that she was strong with his perverse way of threatening people. "Impossible," she couldn't help the small smirk surfacing in her expression. She couldn't let a defeat beat her down yet. "It'll be _me_ destroying _you_ next time."

"Heh, don't count on it."

Meanwhile, Recovery Girl had come out to hear the conversation and was highly amused. _The kids in class 1-A sure are a bunch of weird characters,_ she thought. Though, one thing was glaringly evident. All of them never gave up.

"Just know that once Recovery Girl heals me, it'll be over for you."

"I'll kill you regardless!"

 _Really..._ "Ah, all right!" the hero broke between to prevent the two from starting another fight. The two before her have their differences, and outwardly, they acted like they hated each other's guts but had a mutual respect for each other's strength. Though, she'd heard that they were notorious for getting on each other's nerves and she would rather like to have her clinic stay intact.

"I won't heal either of you if you continue this nonsense," she warned with authority. "So both of you, kiss and make up now!"

 _"...HA?!"_

She hadn't meant that literally of course, but she wondered why they sported such a flustered expression as they glared at her with embarrassment...

* * *

The stadium was shaking as the final victor was announced from the last match. The sports festival was thus concluded.

Present Mic announced for all of the participating students to return to their waiting rooms on standby as they prepared the field for the awards ceremony. Unwillingly, Shiro had been kept back by Recovery Girl to rest because her eyes were still too sensitive. She had completely missed the last battle between Bakugou and Todoroki, so she couldn't wait to find out the results so when she was finally able to leave, she was quickly on her way to meet up with her classmates.

"Shiro-chan!" Uraraka spotted her immediately when the class walked her way and bounded up to her with her wide, innocent eyes shining.

"Are you okay now?" Midoriya asked, looking ar her from all angles with Uraraka. They were both greatly worried, as usual.

Shiro nodded at them in reassurance. "I'm completely fine," she said before realizing that someone was missing from the group. "Oh, Iida-san is not with you guys?"

"Iida-kun got a phone call from home right before the last match," Uraraka explained. "It looked important!"

"I see," Shiro said as they all reached the waiting room with the rest of the class. They were surprised to see the aforementioned class president standing in front of the door.

"There he is! Iida-kun!" Midoriya called out as he waved, but he faltered when he saw the troubled look on the male's face. "Um, is everything okay?"

At the voice of concern, Iida turned to them fully as the three of them lingered outside. The look in his eyes were glossed over slightly behind his glasses before he straightened up seriously. "This is sudden, but I must leave early," he revealed, surprising them. "A villain got my older brother."

 _A villain got...?_ Shiro's eyes widened. "You mean, Ingenium is hurt?"

"Yes," Iida nod solemnly. Uraraka scrunched her expression in worry.

"H-How's he doing?!"

"I don't know the details, so I'm going to go visit him directly to see. He's been admitted to a hospital in Hosu City where he was attacked."

They fell silent for a moment because no one knew the right words to say in a situation like this. Words of absolute reassurance seemed too zealous, but they wanted to be hopeful for Ingenium for Iida's sake. They could only nod and display their concern silently, which seemed to be enough for the stressed class president.

"I have already informed a faculty staff about this. I'm sorry I won't be able to join you guys at the awards ceremony," he told them sincerely. "Shiro-kun, please stand proud in third place for me, too."

"You got it, Iida-san," she promised as he bowed and left. She watched him stride with purpose as his back slowly went out of view.

* * *

"All of the first-year events for this year's U.A. sports festival have been completed. And now, we will begin the award ceremony!" Midnight announced as fireworks bloomed prettily in the sky. More cheers ensued as the underground podium lifted behind the special effect white fog to reveal the top three first-years of this year's sports festival. The students, not limited to class 1-A, all watched with mild horror and embarrassment as they saw Bakugou.

"Wow..."

"What the heck is this?"

Shiro wanted to cover her face from the second-hand embarrassment while standing in third place. She almost didn't want to admit that this struggling blonde _beast_ was the one who defeated her. After hearing about what happened during the battle between Todoroki and Bakugou, she had a hunch that the blonde would be mad. He wanted an _indisputable_ win, after all. But seriously, did he have to be _so_ angered by the match that the staff was forced to put shackles, straps, and a _muzzle_ on him?!

 _He's all over the place,_ she sighed with shame.

On the other side of the blonde, Todoroki was silent and looking deep in thought. She wondered what could be running through his mind at the moment... Surely he had a reason for giving up on the battle?

"In addition to Aisaka-san, there is also Iida-kun in third place," the R-Rated hero explained to the mass media with a saucy wink. "However, he left early for family reasons. Thank you for your understanding!"

 _Iida..._ Shiro's expression turned somber. She, perhaps more than anyone, knew what the male was going through. The fear of losing someone so dear to her heart, someone who she looked up to immensely... She felt all of that with Aizawa when Shigaraki attacked with the League of Villains and nearly took the hero's life.

"Now, we will award the medals! The presentation of the medals will, of course, be by this man—!"

Familiar laughter boomed from the very top of the stadium as the silhouette of All Might appeared before the crowd. Immediately, the mass was in a frenzy of cheers and awe at Japan's number one hero and the Symbol of Peace. Only he would be able to elicit such a response—and no matter how many time he's done this trademark entrance, it was loved by all.

"—our very own hero—"

Midnight's introduction continued as All Might jumped and flipped over towards the students, his own announcement in mind. "I have brought the medals—!"

"ALL MIGHT!"

A pregnant pause immediately followed the awkward clash of introductions. All Might's body shook with depression and the R-Rated hero quickly apologized for talking over him. "N-Now then, All Might, please present the medals, starting with third place!"

Reenergize, the hero strolled towards Shiro with impressive stance. She will never get over how well he can carry himself and make such an impactful impression, even just awarding medals.

"Young Aisaka, congratulations," he said as he hung the shining bronze medal around her neck. "You've done an impressive job at showing your strengths."

"I still have a long way to go if I want to be strong enough," she mumbled humbly. Her goal was to be strong enough to protect her loved ones, and she knew she wasn't there yet.

"You're resourceful and that counts for as much as being powerful," All Might replied softly before going in for a hug and patted her back encouragingly. "You'll make a fine hero one day."

Like the pillar of strength and warmth that he stood for, the hero brought a small smile to her face. A wave of familiar reassurance hit her as she leaned in. "Thank you."

The hero nodded and moved on to Todoroki, giving him a similar speech and went in for a congratulatory hug. There was something about the man's ability to lighten up everything and give people a sense of safety and encouragement that made everything okay. She guessed that was the power of the Symbol of Peace, after all. He can get through to anyone...

 _Well, anyone except_ _ **him**_ _..._ she had to roll her eyes as All Might went to remove the muzzle on Bakugou's face, only for the blonde to explode his angry rant of not deserving first place all over again. He looked positively livid and she wondered how someone can produce such a face. It was almost impressive.

"Well, take this medal, okay?" All Might presented the golden award proudly to Bakugou. "Think of it as a 'wound' so you never forget!"

"I said I don't want it!"

"Now, now."

"I TOLD YOU, I DON'T WANT IT!"

The hero managed to semi-successfully hang the medal between Bakugou's clenched teeth and turned back to the rest of the 11 classes with a bright grin. He reached out to them with promise. "They were the winners this time, but listen here! Anyone here could have ended up on these podiums. It's just as you saw," he balled his hand in a fist. "Competing! Improving each other! And climbing even further! The next generation of heroes is definitely sprouting! So, I just have one more thing to say!" he prompted with his finger pointing to the sky. "Everyone, please say it with me! Ready, go—!"

 _"PLUS ULTRA!"_

 _"—Thanks for your hard work!"_

"Whaaaaaaat?! It should've been 'Plus Ultra' there, All Might!"

Shiro laughed behind her hand at the chorus of boo's coming from the enraged crowd. Truly, only All Might would be able to elicit responses like this from the public.

* * *

"Good work," Aizawa droned as the students returned to the classroom at the end of the day.

Everyone was tired; having been out all day participating in the sports festival, their energies were totally drained. The faculty members at U.A. realizes this, as well.

"There will be no school tomorrow or the day after. I'm sure the Pro Heroes who watched the sports festival will want to recruit you, but we'll reconsolidate everything and announce it when you get back. So rest well and look forward to that."

"Yes sir!"

The class was then dismissed, and the students took this time to pack up and go home to rest. Shiro glanced at Iida's empty seat with unspoken worry. She caught Midoriya doing the same and they exchanged knowing looks.

"Ingenium will be okay," the curly haired boy hoped.

Shiro nodded.

There was something about this situation that unsettled her. What kind of villain was it to be able to take down a hero like Ingenium? Faces plagued her mind—the faces from USJ—and she clinched her teeth. Whether it was them behind it or not, it was still a fact that the League of Villains were a deadly group of people more than capable of doing so.

She couldn't exactly grasp it, but she felt that something was about to happen.

* * *

The sound of glass smashing against the wall was heard from where Kurogiri was. He stopped at the secluded room down the hall and he knocked on the door to check up on the commotion.

"Shigaraki," he called out. It seemed that the end of the sports festival had elicited another round of displeased muttering from Shigaraki.

"Leave, Kurogiri."

"It's time to change your bandages," Kurogiri stated. "Also, Master is on call from the T.V. out in the bar."

There was a low scowl before the door slammed open. The warp gate regarded the hunched male silently and followed him down towards the bar area. Once Shigaraki was seated on a stool, he got to work and brought out a roll of bandages. The gunshot wounds were healing after two weeks of rest, and it looked like Shigaraki was ready to move about again for their next plan.

The small television screen buzzed with static before the call came through.

 _"Shigaraki."_

"You could've called in my room," he muttered as his hands started to itch around his neck. "I watched until the end like you asked. Now I'm angry."

 _"Now, now. You've gathered some useful information, haven't you?"_

"Like you said, they're obstacles. All annoying obstacle that I will crush."

 _"Good. The timing is perfect. Kurogiri, you will head to Hosu City."_

"Yes," Kurogiri said as he finished wrapping Shigaraki. The thin man let out a small grunt and moved away. "But Master, are you sure about this? The Hero Killer may not side with us."

 _"It won't matter. He is creating the chaos that we are after. Shigaraki, you can use this chance to have him get rid of some of those self-righteous heroes."_

Shigaraki scuffed and scratched at his neck. "I'll make use of him if he gets rid of the U.A. brats I hate."

 _"It's all as you wish, but I do have one exception. You must keep your sister alive for now."_

"Master!" Shigaraki shot up with anger as his fist slammed on the wooden table. Unknown to him, his master had long known of his relationship with the girl, but the man had humored him in getting him to reveal his hatred. It was all according to plan, after all. Nonetheless, Shigaraki never thought his master would force this on him. He was always allowed to kill those he found irritating!

"Why?! After I told you that she is the person I despise the most after All Might—!"

A deep chuckle resonated across the room.

 _"Yes, I know. It's just for a while. She will be **instrumental** to our plan, my Shigaraki."_

* * *

Shiro was on her way to the staff office after school to meet up with Aizawa when the door to the break room suddenly opened before her and a sullen-looking man walked out. He jerked slightly when he saw her and she could feel that his eyes, despite deeply set with the appearance of being sullen, was widened with surprise.

"You're the man from earlier," she realized while paying close attention to his weird mannerism. She wondered what he was doing here since he didn't look like a Pro Hero, though she continued to feel that odd familiarity around him.

"Huh—Oh! That is correct, Young Ai—young lady!" the man seemed to be tripping over his thoughts as he inched away. "I was on my way out but got lost! I will be going now, goodbye!"

"Ha...?" Shiro sported a puzzled look as the man hastily disappeared. _He seemed to be in a rush to go somewhere..._ she thought. There was something about that man that made her feel like he was more than meets the eye. It wasn't a bad vibe, but something more familiar...

As she continued to ponder about it with a frown, Aizawa finally entered the office and she dropped her thoughts. "Hey, Eraserhead—" her ruby eyes lit up upon seeing the hero before tilting her head to see a mop of purple hair walking by the door. "And Shinso-san?"

"Oh. Aisaka," Shinso stopped to greet her nonchalantly with is hands in his pant pockets, though seemingly bewildered in knowing what kind of relationship she held with the hero to be this casual.

One thing came to his mind as he looked between the two.

"Secret meeting between a teacher and student?"

Shiro nearly fell off of the chair she was sitting on at the level of accusation. Mineta's pesky sphere chose that exact moment to finally release its adhesiveness and dropped to the ground for effect.

"E-Eraserhead's my _mentor!"_ she shrieked. "Seriously!"

At first, when her classmates wondered if she was the hero's secret child, it already raised some eyes as the thought of the hero actually loving someone enough to produce a child together was slightly unimaginable. But this accusation was going too far. Where in the world did Shinso get that type of impression?!

"Shinso, you should know better," Aizawa said with a bored look.

"Yes sir," Shinso merely smirked. He really couldn't help it; he just enjoyed teasing the girl. "I apologize."

Shiro stopped panicking and furrowed her brows when she realized that the male was just playing around. She didn't take him for someone to be so comfortable with making _these_ kinds of jokes with someone he barely knew, but she figured it was another method of his retaliation for his defeat. "That was low," she huffed.

"Well," he shrugged. "I wasn't wrong to think that you had some kind of connection with sensei."

"I could say the same to you now," she retorted and crossed her arms. "What were you doing with _my_ mentor?"

"Possessive, too."

"Enough," Aizawa cut in before Shiro could fire back another word. "How irrational. There's still a long way to go for both of you if you want to become heroes."

"...Sorry," they both muttered in apology.

"It's late. Go home."

The general course male obliged with a small bow and started to walk away. Even so, the curiosity in Shiro didn't die down but she at least caught on that Aizawa must have seen the potential in Shinso if they were together earlier. The teasing aside, she was happy for the general course male.

"Shinso-san, wait," she quickly called after him before he was out of view. The male paused once again as she flashed him an encouraging thumbs up. "Work hard."

He gave her a long stare before leaving, the corners of his lips turning up.

"See you around, Aisaka."

Shiro smiled to that. At lot has happened today, especially regarding her changing views of the purple haired male. She would even go as far as saying that she admired his drive to become a hero despite not having a conventional, "hero-like" Quirk. Sure, there was some hiccups during the way between them, but wasn't that the case for many friendships?

 _Friends?_ Is that what she thought of Shinso?

"Don't stare into space," Aizawa's voice cut through her thoughts and she blinked at him. The hero looked ready to go and Shiro hopped off the chair to leave together. "I'm going to Recovery Girl to get these bandages off," he lifted an arm briefly. "You go home, too."

Shiro shook her head, "I want to go with you."

"Hm," he replied before going to address something he wanted to say since the award ceremony—he was sure the girl was waiting for it as well. Having taken cared of the girl for 11 years, it was quite easy to read her. Not that it was hard in the first place as she was very expressive. "You got a little carried away during your fight with Bakugou which allowed him to strike back and injure you. Learn from your mistakes."

Shiro nodded with resignation, fully expecting this as something the hero would say.

"But, I'm proud of you."

Hearing those words from the hero made Shiro's heart bloom with warmth and she grinned happily. He was always to the point and direct with everything. whether it be praise or criticism, and she found that she wouldn't change it for anything in the world. She was glad that she can look up to someone like Aizawa.

"Can we go to WacDonalds after you're done?" she suddenly asked.

The hero gave her a look. "Fine with me," he said. He was all for the efficiency and practicality of fast food restaurants, but he wondered if he had influenced the girl that much to prefer the same. "You like that place that much?"

Shiro blinked. "Don't you like it? You always took me there when I was little. It's a tradition now, isn't it?"

Aizawa was taken by surprise with the girl's words before he continued walking with a prideful smile behind his bandages.

"How irrational."

He hated to admit it, but Midnight was absolutely right. Shiro was someone who brought out the softness in him. Besides, having a little bit of irrationality in his life is not a terrible thing.

* * *

"Young Midoriya!"

The green haired boy paused on his way home to face the hero calling out to him. All Might had meant to talk to the boy after Aizawa dismissed homeroom, but his emaciated form had prevented him from leaving the staff room until he was sure the students were gone. He didn't account for seeing Shiro again and drawing more attention to himself, though. The girl truly had sharp eyes.

"All—" Midoriya quickly looked around first to make sure that there were no other pedestrians before lowering his voice with wide eyes. "All Might!"

"I wanted to congratulate you for the sports festival personally," the hero grinned and set a hand on Midoriya's shoulder. "I realized that my words before have put immense pressure on you to show the world what you got, but your performance was great! This is all in the process of learning."

"T-Thank you!" Midoriya was grateful, but he stared down at his bandaged hands and grew somber. "Thank you for believing in me... But you originally became a teacher at U.A. to find a successor, right? Putting everything I had into the sports festival, I could physically feel everyone's strong emotions of not wanting to give in. So I..."

All Might's eyes softened at the boy's dejected look. "You think that someone else should be my successor?" he finished. Midoriya nodded.

"Yes..."

"It's true that this place is filled with wonderful potential heroes. One For All is the crystallization of power. For those who have Quirks... For example, if Young Todoroki were to inherit it, then with the super strength on top of his Half-Cold, Half-Hot, he would probably become a superhero."

The bottom of Midoriya's lips trembled. He knew this and he knew he shouldn't be so selfish for his own broken dream. He couldn't be a hero like All Might when he is unable control such a precious power. "Then—"

"But you know," the hero continued with another small grin and pointed to himself. "I was Quirkless, too."

"Quirkless...?" Midoriya was in disbelief. "You were...?"

"Yeah. My master had a Quirk, but even so, my master believed in me and gave One For All to me and raised me to become a hero."

"You never told me that—!"

"Because you never asked," he said, flashing a thumb confidently. "Even though I thought you would! At first, I saw the old me in you. But you have gone beyond what I imagined, time and time again. Choosing you as my successor was a decision I don't regret. You coming to U.A. was no coincident, either. There is something that only you can draw out, and it's evident in how your actions have touched your classmates."

"I..." the boy was in tears. He had never imagined that the number one hero, his idol, would believe in him this much as his successor. It was an insult to the hero that he even suggested another. "I'm sorry!"

"It's alright, Young Midoriya," the hero laughed as he blew up his form to show his pride. "Ack!" Blood immediately spurted out of his mouth as he couldn't hold it for more than a few seconds before he deflated again. Coughing behind his hand, the hero sighed. "My time in my hero form has really shortened... I have to take more precautions to not be noticed."

"Ah, that's right!" Midoriya's green orbs shone with worry. "Uraraka-san and the others came into the clinic while you were with me! Did they notice?!"

"No," All Might reassured with a small chuckle. "But Young Aisaka is sharp. She didn't recognize me yet she was suspicious. It's as expected of Aizawa-kun to rub off on her. I can only praise my good decision making back then, hahaha!"

"Back then...?"

"Oh, right! I also expected that you'll ask," the hero nodded. "I rescued Young Aisaka from a burning orphanage when she was four years old and entrusted her with Aizawa-kun, who was more or less reluctant at the time to take her in. But Aizawa-kun is a big softie and Young Aisaka turned out to become such a fine young lady under him!"

Although he had known part of the story from Shiro herself, it was the first time Midoriya heard that the hero was connected to the girl in some way. "Shiro-san never mentioned that about you, All Might. I-I mean, maybe she just left it out!"

"Ah, it's not that. Young Aisaka has no memory of it."

"Huh?" Midoriya blinked.

"Her Quirk manifested just before I got to her. She was trying to get away from the villain who was responsible and tried to wipe out his existence. She wasn't strong enough to completely go through with erasing the villain from this universe, but I realized how dangerous her Quirk can be if it was not under control. I couldn't leave her alone to another orphanage after that," All Might explained as the expression on his face grew regretful.

 _"H-Help me find nii-san..."_

"However, it wasn't just because of the nature of Aizawa-kun's Quirk that I chose him. I knew she will be in safe hands and well-cared for without the media attention that other heroes got. I felt it was the least I can do for Young Aisaka. Before losing consciousness, she told me she had a brother in the orphanage. Problem is, I didn't have a description to go off on, yet I searched everywhere in the orphanage and around the vicinity. Still, I failed to find the only person she had left to depend on."

"I'm sure Shiro-san doesn't blame you for it!" Midoriya consoled the man. "She's not that type of person, and she knows you saved her!"

All Might smiled and patted the boy's head, "After Young Aisaka regained consciousness in the hospital, her memory was wiped out from the stress. That meant I couldn't get more information from her to find her brother... And I didn't have time to officially meet her when she woke, nor did I have the heart to tell her what happened, so Young Aisaka was only told that a hero saved her, not me."

Midoriya was stunned to silence while taking the rest in. He realized that he might be the only person aside from Aizawa who knows this. Even Shiro does not remember what really happened to her. Not to mention, the prospect that she might still have a kin out there in the world if he was never officially found. "Do you..." he searched into the hero's eyes. "Do you think Shiro-san's brother is still out there?"

"It's possible," All might said truthfully and looked up into the sky. "If he is, then I'll find him."

* * *

 **Happy Monday (or maybe Tuesday for those of you on the other side of the world)! With this chapter ends the sports festival arc and onto the hero killer and final exams arc ~ Just know that I have much in store ;)**

 **Please leave a review!**


	19. Life Curries On

**HELLLLOOOO! Let it be known that I changed the summary of this fic - plot is the same, I just wanted a better summary LOL (peep the new cover art too).** **Also, please read the note at the end for Q&A that some readers asked on the previous chapter if you're interested.** **Enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _life curries on_

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Shiro's stomach growled as the clock ticked to two in the afternoon. She had been left to her own devices since Aizawa was busy working on sorting out agency requests with the other Pro Hero teachers after the sports festival, so she'd decided to eat some food before she starved herself. One look in their fridge and then her wallet had left her scowling, and thus, she found herself going to the cheapest supermarket she could find.

The entrance jingled as she walked in. Despite it being a weekday, there was still a good amount of people. Shiro grabbed a shopping basket and bee-lined to the produce section first.

"Let's see..." her ruby eyes scanned over the vegetables before picking up a bundle of carrots and two large potatoes. She remembered seeing onions at home, so she headed towards the meats to grab a pack of beef stew meat. She also grabbed a carton of eggs before directing her attention to the dry foods and package isle.

Looking high and low, Shiro searched intently for the curry sauce mix. She'd never went to this supermarket before, so the product organization was completely foreign to her. She furrowed her brows. _It's not even in alphabetical order..._

She didn't have much luck until she neared someone standing in front of a section that looked promising. The person didn't seem to notice her arrival so he made no move to step aside. Thinking of giving the guy a heads up rather than butting in front of him, she reached over and tapped him on the shoulder. However, the sudden contact caused the male to jump and knock into the row of preserved plums and it came tumbling down on him.

"I'm sorry!" she immediately apologized and tried to help with cleaning up, only to be stopped as the male threw his arms up to prevent her from coming closer.

"I-I got it!" he told her and quickly picked up the packages to return them on the shelf.

Shiro watched the male with confusion and bewilderment. She noticed elf-like ears peeking out from his dark, messy hair, giving him an unique appearance. He was tall, but that could masked by his hunched form. Despite having the feeling that he was older than her, she couldn't believe how shy he was.

"Look, I'm sorry for scaring you," she said, her voice causing him to turn to her with an nervous blink. She felt kind of bad for him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said as he looked to the side. Did he cause a scene? Did he look too incompetent? Gosh, he _must_ have. "I should go..."

However, Shiro was looking at something behind him that caugt her eyes. She lit up and without thinking, she reached over him to grab the item. "Ah-ha!"

If the male was startled before, he was positively _mortified_ now. To onlookers, it appeared that a 5'9" male was being forcefully caged in by a girl who was almost a head shorter. One had to wonder if he was being bullied, or perhaps this was some type of reverse roleplay?

The interaction barely lasted a few seconds, but to the male, it felt like an eternity. She was so close that he could smell a hint of citrus from her hair. He was nearly at the point of bursting from anxiety when the girl stepped back with a small box of curry mix in her hand. She looked really happy with her find and turned her gaze back at him with a small quirk of her lips.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"Oranges!" he blurted, not all aware of her question as he only managed to say the first thing that came to his mind.

Shiro gave him a puzzled look. "Oranges?" she repeated before her brain clicked and she pointed to the left side of the store. She had just walked past the fruit isle. Figuring that he probably didn't know his way around the supermarket, she offered her assistance. "Follow me."

"Um, actually..." his voice was left unheard as she was already walking away. The only thing he could do without being rude was, of course, to follow.

Once they reached the fruits, she took him to where a variety of oranges were displayed and even handed him a plastic bag for his convenience. The male didn't know what to do other than to pick up two and putting it in his bag.

"Do you need help with finding something else?"

At her question, he immediately shook his head to prevent her from trying to help further. "I only wanted some... Oranges..."

"Okay then," she gave him a short wave, thinking nothing of this weird individual. "I'll be going. See ya!"

He also waved back meekly and watched as the girl left, only to be distracted briefly and made her way towards around isle. It was just around the corner from the dried foods isle where he was originally intending to get some snacks at, but he couldn't risk going back and seeing her again. It would be too embarrassing to explain.

So, walking to the cash register with the two plump oranges dangling in the plastic bag, he quickly paid for it and walked out of the supermarket.

"Yo, it sure took you long enough!" the blonde male waiting for him outside of the store called as he walked over. "Eh? Didn't you say you wanted to get some dried squid to practice later? What's with the oranges?"

The male in question looked away with a sigh. "Don't ask..."

The blonde laughed, knowing that he'll find out soon enough. As his best friend, he _always_ got answers.

* * *

Shiro looked at the time as she left the supermarket; it was nearly one. Deciding that it would be faster for her to get home by cutting through a neighborhood, she made a detour to her right. The buildings in this neighborhood were older and more traditional, but it had an air of timeless style.

She looked ahead of her as she hurried along the edge of the road to avoid any incoming bikers or cars. Something in the distance caught her eye, and when she squinted to focus better, she saw a familiar symmetrically split head of red and white. She knew the male didn't live around here, but she was fairly certain of who it was. _Isn't that Todoroki?_

The male seemed to also notice her after her gaze locked on him.

Todoroki didn't let his surprise of seeing her slip too much as heterochromatic eyes looked at the plastic bags in her hands before trailing up to her face again. He hadn't recognized her from far away because the usually contained locks on her head seemed to roam wild outside of its binds. He realized this was the first time he's ever seen her without her silvery-blue hair in pigtails.

"Good afternoon."

"Hey, Todoroki-san," she greeted back, checking out his getup. Unlike all the times she's seen him in class with the U.A. uniform, today he was wearing a white tee under a deep navy button-up. He also had a small over-the-shoulder backpack on him. "Are you heading somewhere?"

"Actually, I just came back from visiting my mother," he revealed.

Shiro blinked in surprise. It was no wonder he looked like he's been liberated of a burden in his heart. "Midoriya-san's words must really have caused you to think differently about your situation, huh?" she offered him a small grin, being genuinely happy for the male. "I was getting worried that you'll never realize it."

"It wasn't just Midoriya."

"What do you mean?"

It might have taken him a while to realize, but after Midoriya's trigger during the sports festival, it became as evident as ever. Todoroki was just blinded by the anger he felt for his bastard of a father to actually sit and think about what people around him were trying to say. Meeting his mother today proved it all—if it wasn't for Shiro and Midoriya, he thinks that he wouldn't even have the courage to visit his mother. But today... It was his start line.

"Back in USJ, you reminded me that I can be the hero I choose to be. I never forgot that. Midoriya gave me the final push," he said sincerely. "I never went to visit my mother before today because I thought my presence would put pressure on her. But in order to become my ideal hero, I had to talk to my mother. There was so much that I needed to tell her... And she listened to everything I had to say. I have to thank you and Midoriya for believing in me because after today, I feel... relieved."

"Your mother sounds like an amazing person," Shiro remarked. "And hey, I'm glad it helped."

"Yes. I also told her about you and Midoriya. She hopes she can meet you guys one day."

"Ah," she said and scratched the side of her face, the bags hanging on her arm crinkling. "I'm nothing special."

Todoroki stepped towards her with conviction shining in his eyes, "I disagree."

For someone who always acted cool, he was being so _warm_ today. _This Todoroki is different..._ She was not sure how to properly take in his praise, but lucky for her, her stomach chose this moment to growl again.

"Sorry, I must be keeping you," he stepped aside to let the girl pass. However, his own hunger decided to make its presence known as well. Consumed by the resolve to make amends with his mother, he had skipped breakfast to leave early and visit her... It was no wonder his stomach was complaining now.

The two blinked at each other for a few seconds before Shiro spoke up in a sheepish drawl.

"Want some beef curry?"

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of town...

Bakugou had awoken past noon into an absolutely _foul_ mood. He was kept up all night by his anger at the results of the sports festival, and when he finally went to sleep to forget about it, he _still_ woke up angry. He just felt that something was _off_ , like something he didn't like was happening without his knowledge.

Maybe it was that blasted Deku being a nerd like usual and telepathically pissing him off, or perhaps it was the Half and Half Bastard...!

Stomping to his bathroom to brush his teeth, he imaged the germs in his mouth were tiny versions of Midoriya and Todoroki and scrubbed as hard as he possibly could. It even pissed him off that he was so pissed off.

"DIE...! Damn germs!"

 _"Katsuki, don't wake up past noon and start yelling!"_ his mom yelled from down the stairs.

"AGHHHHHHH!"

* * *

"Sorry for the intrusion," Todoroki said softly as he walked into the humble home of Aizawa and Shiro.

Immediately he was met with unfamiliar sights after taking off his shoes. In his own house was much bigger since he had an older sister and two older brothers, not to mention his father was filthy rich from being the number two hero. Because of his family circumstance and how Endeavor forced him to train everyday, being home never felt like home. Shiro's place was small, but it felt surprisingly homely... Vastly different from his large and traditional, dojo-styled residence.

Shiro set down the groceries in the kitchen and brought her attention back to the male. She could tell he was politely checking out the place but she felt self-conscious about it because she's never really had friends over before. "You can watch T.V. in the living room or something... The curry won't take long," she said.

However, Todoroki was already besides her with his usual neutral expression. "I'll help."

"Eh? You don't have to..."

"You're offering me a meal. It's only right."

"Alright then," she shrugged. Todoroki was indeed really _warm_ today; seeing his mother really did him good. She went to grab a large pot, knife, vegetable peeler, and a cutting board. After setting up the stations, she handed Todoroki the peeler, "Wanna do the honors?"

The male nodded wordlessly and got to work as Shiro heated a separate pan with oil to stir-fry the meat and onions first. The room was quiet saved for the sizzling in her frying pan and chopping of vegetables. While timing the meat, she snuck a peak at the male and found that he was already done peeling and wasn't having much trouble at dicing. He didn't seem like the type to cook often, but she supposed that being as great as he was, using a knife was more than easy for him.

"My sister cooks for my brothers and I, but I help out sometimes," he answered her unspoken question. She reddened slightly when she realized that he caught her staring and immediately looked away.

"I see," she mumbled. "Eraserhead and I usually just make whatever's edible."

"Aizawa-sensei cooks?"

"Surprising, right?"

"A little," he nodded, and she didn't blame him. Although most people would never peg Aizawa as someone to give an investment to take care of another human being, Shiro was the living proof that the man knew how to be a guardian, and a good one at that. He always acted indifferent, but he certainly was far from uncaring. Despite not having real parents, Shiro knew she had it good especially having the unfortunate luck to meet Todoroki's father.

"By the way," she trailed her ruby eyes towards the male. "I encountered Endeavor during the sports festival."

Todoroki stopped cutting the carrots and lifted his heterochromatic eyes to meet with hers. "I apologize if that old man said anything offensive. Please ignore him."

"It's nothing I can't handle," she shrugged with a slight smirk. "I told him off the same way I did when you offended me." Todoroki blinked as he remembered his rude comment to her early in the sports festival

"Again, I'm sorry about that."

"No need to apologize. Despite everything, you're nothing like him... And as a friend, I told Endeavor to stop treating my friend like an object."

That caught him by surprise. Her words made his heart warm. "You really said that to him?"

"Yeah," she nodded nonchalantly before giving him a confused gaze. "We _are_ friends, right?"

 _Of course_ they are. "Yes," he had made sure of it because he didn't want to lose what they had from him being an ass. "Thank you, Aisaka."

"Just 'Shiro' is fine," Shiro told him with a reassuring grin. Though, as they talked, she had neglected the pan that was now smoking with charred meat. "Oh shoot—" she reached over too fast and ended up burning a finger, "Ouch!"

"Shiro!"

The pan continued to smoke, making her cough and stumble right into Todoroki's chest when he came up from behind. He reached across and swiftly grabbed the pan and threw a lid over it to stop the smoke from consuming them, and then he used his ice to cool down the overheated pan, letting it drop to a simmer. With the potential fire evaded, his focus immediately went the girl's injury.

"Let me see your finger," he ordered, though he was already holding it and walking her over towards the sink to run under cold water. When he was finished with the water, he held the finger gently in his right hand to continue cooling it down with ice.

Shiro could only allow him to do so wordlessly, acutely aware of how close she was trapped between his body with his arms around her. He felt warm on one side and just slightly cooler on the other, just like his personality. Maybe it was odd, but she decided that she liked him just the way he was... But of course, the close contact didn't make it any less embarrassing for her.

"I-I'm fine now," she told him, attempting to pull away from Todoroki's hold. Noticing her discomfort, he released her but continued to look at her with worry.

"It's still red. I should keep cooling it."

"It's fine," she reassured and waved the hand around. "Besides, it's just a small burn."

Todoroki looked dejected at her response. Maybe he overreacted, but this was the second time her hand got hurt on his watch so it was weighing him down some. "I don't want it to leave a mark."

Shiro finally realized that getting burned probably reminded him of what happened to himself when he was a child, making her feel extremely bad for being so careless. "Sorry... I should be thanking you," she apologized awkwardly.

Ever since she was little, she only had Aizawa to show her this level of concern and even then the hero always showed it in such a way that sometimes she had to question if she was simply hallucinating or not. She just wasn't used to it and it wasn't Todoroki's fault. Thinking of a way to divert his mood, she lifted the pan.

"Hey! On the bright side, at least the meat is oka... Oh," her words trailed off when she realized whatever was left in that pan was charred beyond edible. Her face scrunched with a blush while she tried to move the pan from view. "Nevermind...!"

Seeing the girl so flustered, Todoroki's worry dissipated and he felt a small chuckle bubble at the base of his throat. It was enough for Shiro to catch it and she couldn't take the humiliation. "Don't you dare laugh," she scowled. "Or you can starve."

But of course it was _her_ stomach that growled once again in response and Todoroki had to cough behind his hand to keep from laughing.

"Todoroki-san, I'm serious!"

While Shiro shot him a stubborn look, there was an oddly satisfied feeling growing in his heart. There was just something about her that allowed him to let his own emotions free in unpredictable ways. Even when she was blaming him... He'll willingly take the fault every time.

"Of course... I'm sorry," he calmed enough to stop like she asked. He took the pan from her and made her sit while he did the work. "Let me make it up to you."

* * *

By the time Todoroki step foot into his traditional styled home, it was almost evening. Hearing his arrival, Todoroki Fuyumi rushed towards the hallway wear the male was putting away his shoes.

"Shoto, you're back!" Fuyumi's gray eyes were still as wide as this morning when she found out that he was going to visit their mother.

Todoroki was calm as the young woman paused to look him over. She had been anxious ever since he left and wondered how the visit went since it took so long. From the looks of his expression, it didn't seem particularly bad... Rather, was that a softer than usual look her stoic little brother sported on his face?

"So... How..." she continued as mix of concern and curiosity clearly showed in her eyes. "How did the visit go?"

Ever since the incident that sent their mother into the hospital, contact between Todoroki and the woman had ceased to exist. Fuyumi knew it was the fear that prevented Todoroki from seeing their mother, the fear that she would become even more unstable. Fuyumi had hope that things between the two of them could be rekindled, because their mother always looked so sad with guilt each time she went to visit.

"It went well," Todoroki told her. There was an unreadable look in his eyes, so she could only rely on his reassurance.

"That's good," she said before perking suddenly, "Ah, you must be hungry! I'll go and make something!"

"It's okay, I ate already."

"Really..." Fuyumi couldn't help but blink in surprise at the lift of her brother's lips. _Is Shoto... Smiling?_

* * *

 **Story will be back on Hero Killer Arc next chapter ~ now to the** **Q &A!**

 **Shiro and Shigaraki: as of the last chapter, it's confirmed that they are blood siblings. In this story she is about 4-5 years younger than Shigaraki (so he may not reflect his canon age if it ever gets revealed and of course that changes some details in his childhood). They were both in the orphanage that burnt down 11 years ago - other details (like how they _got_ into the orphanage) will be revealed in due time :) **

**Why doesn't she look like Nana: all I can say is that a lot of times grandchildren don't look like their grandparents (genetic relatedness = 0.25). It's the same with Shigaraki canonly - except he does have a similar mole under his lips like Nana. Shiro shares more traits with Shigaraki as they are siblings (genetic relatedness = 0.5).**

 **Also remember, in canon Nana put her son (Shiro and Shigaraki's dad) in foster care as a child and never had any contact with him.**

 **Hope that clears it up! Please feel free to ask more :)**


	20. The Train to Internship Hell!

**Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _the train to internship hell!_

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The days of rest went by for the rest in relative peace. The students were all heading back to school on the third day, well-rested and injuries mostly all healed. Because the sports festival was broadcasted on national television, with the focus directed especially at class 1-A, people on their way to school would recognize them and call them out in congratulations. While this was a notion Shiro appreciated, she didn't think she'll ever get used to the attention.

It was raining when she reached school campus and she had to make sure that she didn't step on any puddles to avoid soaking the bandages on her leg. It was the only part on her body that was left to heal on its own as Recovery Girl's little punishment for her overexerting her Quirk again. Of course, she's heard an earful from Aizawa as well, but she was fine nonetheless because he was clearly not that angry at her to begin with.

"Shiro-chan~!" Hagakure called from behind while Shiro was putting on her indoor shoes. Ojiro was right by the girl as they walked over. She couldn't see the expression on the invisible girl's face, but it didn't take much to know that she was hyped about something and probably grinning. "Ojiro-kun and I were just talking about how we've become even more popular after the sports festival. I even got a few stares on my way here. It was kind of embarrassing!"

"Isn't that normal for you...?" Shiro tilted her head in question of the girl's statement. The girl _is_ invisible.

"Ojiro-kun said some even stopped to talk to him, too," Hagakure exclaimed without any indication that she heard. "They all thought his decision was very honorable!"

"I just felt it wouldn't be fair to move on without doing any work is all," Ojiro replied bashfully while putting on his own shoes. When he came back up, his cheeks were still tinted red as his eyes landed on Shiro. "Moreover, I bet you gained more attention. Going against Bakugou isn't easy and you got third place out of everyone."

"I didn't stop to talk to them," she stated bluntly.

"Of course you didn't," the male chuckled.

The three finished their business by the lockers but Shiro was drawn to a certain locker a few spots down. News had come out the other night about the culprit behind Ingenium's hospitalization... She wondered about the state of Iida's mind in knowing that the Hero Killer was still on the loose.

"Good morning, Shiro-kun, Ojiro-kun, and Hagakure-kun!" The three turned to see the aforementioned president sprinting towards them with a bright green poncho. "Why are you guys still chit-chatting out here? You're going to be late!"

"Eh?" Ojiro blinked with bewilderment. "But there's still five minutes until the first bell."

"U.A. students should always arrive 10 minutes early!"

Before they could question further, Iida already switched his rain boots with his indoor shoes and was ready to head to class. Shiro looked at the male with concern as he seemed to carry on like normal despite what happened to his family.

"Iida-san," she called while they were all heading towards their classroom. "Are you al—?"

"There is no need to worry," he reassured immediately. With the idle chatter happening around them, only the two were aware of the conversation. "My brother's condition is stabilized. I apologize for worrying you needlessly."

 _If you say so..._ she blinked as the male only left it at that and entered the classroom. He was already at his seat and was immediately bombarded by Uraraka's questions. Meanwhile, Shiro was pulled in by Hagakure and joined the bustling excitement of her classmates recounting their mornings.

"Morning, Shiro-chan!" Kirishima greeted in between Sero's distraught retelling of some elementary school kids telling him _'Don't mind'_. "Hey, you're all healed up from your injuries! Bakugou really did a number on you, huh?"

"Yeah," Shiro replied while glancing at the angry-looking blonde. It wouldn't be surprising to know that the results of the sports festival was _still_ irking him. "It's nothing compared to _someone's_ bruised ego, though."

Bakugou slammed his fist on his desk, "Who said my ego's bruised, huh?!"

"I didn't say it was yours," she said with a challenging smirk. "But it sure sounds like it is."

"How about I give you a real bruise to talk about!"

"You've already done that during the festival, _number one._ "

"AGGGGGHHH!"

Kirishima laughed; it was always entertaining to watch the two banter. "Hey, hey!" he broke the fight with a charming grin nonetheless. "We all did our best in the sports festival. We should all be happy!"

"Shut up, Shitty Hair!"

" _Hey,_ we basically have the same hair!"

It was evident that the mood of the classroom was in high spirits after the sports festival. For the most part, at least. Shiro could still sense that there was something wrong with Iida... But what can she do?

All the chatter stopped suddenly when the classroom door opened and in walked Aizawa. The man strolled to the front of the class as he muttered out his greeting and gave each one of them his usual stare. Tsuyu pointed out his lack of bandages.

"The old lady went overboard with her treatment," Aizawa replied as he rubbed the underside of one eye. There was a deep crescent scar below his right eye; the aftermath from Nomu's attack. "Anyway," he continued on, "We're having a special hero informatics class today. You'll be coming up with hero names."

There was an unanimous cheer from the class at the mention of something as exciting as making up code names, but of course, it was immediately silenced with a glare from the hero. "This is related to the Pro Hero draft picks I mentioned the other day. The drafts begin in earnest in the second and third years after students have gained experience and can become immediate assets to the pros," he explained. "In other words, for them to extend offers to first years like you, it shows that they are interested in your future potential. These offers are often canceled if that interest dies down by graduation."

"Adults are so selfish," Mineta knocked on his desk with a mutter.

"So we'll have to prove ourselves once we get picked, huh?" Hagakure remarked with great interest. The hero nodded and turned to the board with his projector remote.

"Here are the totals for those with offers."

The class watched in bewilderment as a chart with their names and number of offers appeared on the board one by one. Todoroki stood as first place with more than 4000 offers, followed by Bakugou who had over 3500. Shiro was surprised to see her name right under the blonde's even if her amount of offers paled in comparison. The rest followed in more modest numbers.

"In other years, it's been more spread out, but all eyes were on these two this year," Aizawa explained, pointing to the top two students.

"Gah, there's such a big difference!" Kaminari groaned.

"Those pros don't know a good thing when they see one!" Aoyama added with his face puffed and ego bruised.

"Look at the order though," Jiro raised a brow with surprise. "Todoroki's first while Bakugou's second... It's the opposite of their placement in the sports festival."

"Some people are too scared to ask for a guy who had to be restrained on the podium," Sero supplemented. It seemed the most logical, but of course it hit a nerve with Bakugou as he whipped his head around and threw the simple guy a demonic scowl.

"What're the pros scared of?!"

"Still, they're amazing," Shiro mumbled. To see that there was still such a difference between her and the top of the class was telling. She was happy with her result, but her competitive streak wasn't having it. "I've still got a ways to go..."

Besides her, Midoriya blinked at her envy and awe. "You got 581 offers, Shiro-san! That's impressive, too! U-Unlike me..." he deflated.

"Midoriya, you didn't get any offers!" Mineta shook him from behind. "It's probably because they're scared of you 'cause of the crazy way you were fighting!"

"Yeah..."

"Keeping these results in mind, whether or not anyone asked for you, you will all be participating in internships with pros," Aizawa finalized, catching everyone's attention again. "At USJ, you already got to experience combat with real villains, but it will still be meaningful training for you to see pros at work firsthand."

Sato pumped his fist with excitement, "So that explains the hero names!"

"Well, those hero names are still temporary, but if you're not serious about it..."

"You'll have hell to pay later!" Midnight swiped open the door and sauntered in. "Because a lot of hero names used by students become recognized by society and they end up becoming professional hero names!"

As some of the guys drooled over the sexy hero, Aizawa waved a hand in dismissal. "That's how it is. So Midnight will be making sure your names are okay," he said while taking out his sleeping bag. "I can't do stuff like that."

That made Shiro think about the origin of Aizawa's hero name, as told by Present Mic, and she distinctly remembered her four-year-old self vowing to _never_ let the Voice hero name her as well.

"When you give yourself a name, you get a more concrete image of what you want to be like in the future, and you can get closer to it. This is what it means when they say, 'names and natures do often agree.' Like 'All Might', for example," the Erasure hero informed before giving the task to Midnight to take care of and slunk down to rest.

 _A concrete image of what I want to be...?_ Shiro pondered as the name boards were passed down her row. She stared at the blank canvas and thought of what she wanted to be in the future.

* * *

"Okay, let's start presenting names starting with those who are ready," Midnight announced after some time have passed. Her words shocked many people as they didn't expect to have to tell the _class_ their hero names, too.

Aoyama was the first to raise his hand. Boldly, he walked up to the front of the class, "Here I go..." he lifted his white board proudly. "'Shining Hero: _I can not stop twinkling!'_ Which means, you can't stop my sparkles!"

 _It's complicated, but it suits Aoyama-san,_ Shiro thought seriously. After getting to know him more during the sports festival, she wasn't as opposed to his "shinning" personality anymore.

 _It's a sentence!_ The rest of the class, on the other hand, blanched.

Despite the absurdity of it all, Midnight seemed perfectly fine with it and only suggested a few structural changes to make the name more catchy. She motioned for the next person to volunteer and Mina skipped up happily.

"Hero name, 'Alien Queen'!"

"Are you trying for the thing with acidic blood?" Midnight immediately rejected. "It sounds too evil!"

"Dang it..." Mina trailed back to her seat to try again. Tsuyu raised her hand next.

"Then, may I go next?" she walked up to the podium and turned her board around. "I've had this in mind ever since I was in elementary school. 'Rainy Season Hero: Froppy'."

The R Rated hero clapped her hands together happily, "That's so cute!" she praised. "It seems friendly. I like it! It's a great example of a name that everyone will love!"

As Tsuyu brought back the flow of the hero names back towards normal, others were willing to share their names more at ease. One by one, the students went up to and explained their names. They all had an image in mind that they wanted to strive for, and it was true that their names were telling of their strength or characteristic.

When it got to Todoroki, everyone anticipated what the top student in their class had thought up. They were greatly surprised, if not a bit disappointed, to find that he decided to simply go by his first name.

"Shoto."

"Is that okay?" Midnight asked, and the male nodded. "Very well. Next!"

A few more went before Bakugou stomped up to the podium with such a fierce look on his face. It had taken him a while to think up of the _perfect_ hero name. "King of Explosion Murder," he declared.

"You probably shouldn't use something like that," the R Rated hero advised.

"Why not?!"

"You should be 'Explosion Boy'!" Kirishima suggested instead.

"I'll kill you!"

Shiro shook her head as the hero sent the blonde back to make some changes. He could be so unreasonable sometimes. At this time, Uraraka went up and introduced her name as _Uravity_ , which was both fitting of her cute nature and the characteristic of her Quirk.

"Alright! Now, all that's left is Bakugou-kun who needs to rethink his name, Iida-kun, Midoriya-kun, and Aisaka-san!"

At the mention of her name, Shiro tightened her grip on the marker in her hand. She was honestly stumped. She kept on thinking back to what drives her to become a hero... Perhaps she picked up Aizawa's inability to make up a creative name as well.

It would be simple to go with something that related to her probability Quirk, but she wanted her name to have more meaning. Something that will reflect who she is as a person.

She thought back to her past. Her only memory of her past self was that she was named Shiragiku and nothing else, but even something as simple as her name was told by the hospital staff. While she was told there was an unnamed hero who saved her from the burning orphanage, Aizawa was the first person and the first hero of her memories after the accident.

He was broody and not at all charming the first time she's ever met him, and she was even apprehensive to go with him... But he took her in and new memories with the Pro Hero quickly replaced her blank slate.

She was no longer just _Shiragiku_ who couldn't remember her past and family. Aizawa became her family. With that in mind, she glanced at the sleeping man at the front of the class before writing a name down with purpose. "I'll go," she said and walked up to the front of the class and flipped over her board to show everyone.

In bold, it simply read: **SHIRO.**

 _"Shiragiku's a mouthful. I'll just call you Shiro."_

After all... Despite his insistence, Aizawa wasn't all that terrible at coming up with names.

* * *

After the bell for the end of morning classes rang and in rolled lunchtime, Shiro and her classmates were still looking over their options of hero agencies to internship at. Even for those who didn't get any offers, there was a list of 40 agencies around the country. For people who had over a hundred choices, choosing an agency became a tedious chore to pick out the best one that can enhance specific skills of interest.

"Hey guys, have you decided what pro agency you're going to yet?" Mina asked with a sense of resign as she plopped her upper body on her desk.

"I'm going to Mt. Lady!" Mineta answered swiftly. As soon as he saw his options, he knew he was set.

"Mineta-chan, you're thinking about something perverted, aren't you?" Tsuyu stated as she walked past.

"O-Of course not!"

"Ashido-san, you made it pretty far in the tournament, too," Ojiro interjected in response to the pink haired girl's resignation. "It's weird that you didn't get any offers."

"Right? You said it!"

"Deku-kun, have you decided already?" Uraraka asked, though it was almost pointless to ask as the curly haired male was still in his state of muttering and weighing over his choices. "Ah... What about you, Shiro-chan?"

Shiro looked up from her stack with a slow blink. So far, most of her options have been capture-type agencies much like Aizawa's specialty. She figured many would categorize her skill to be most efficient with quickly capturing villains, but she wanted to expand her horizons. "I'm not sure yet. Have you decided?"

"Yup! I'm going to Battle Hero: Gunhead's agency!"

Hearing the announcement, Midoriya snapped up from his concentration with surprise. "Huh? Gunhead's a huge battle type!" he remarked. "You're going there, Uraraka-san? I totally thought you were trying to be a hero like Thirteen."

"Ultimately, yes," the girl threw a practice punch in midair with determination. "But fighting Bakugou-kun at the sports festival made me think. The stronger I get, the more possibilities I'll have! If I only do what I want, I'll have a narrower perspective!"

"I see..."

Both Shiro and Midoriya regarded the girl's resolve with respect. It was a true and very rational decision on her part to better herself. Shiro was thinking the same thing as her only focus was to get strong enough to hold up in combat so that she can protect the people she cares about.

"Say, this has been bothering me for a while, but..." Uraraka gave Midoriya's slightly shaking form a perplexed look. "Why are you trembling?"

"Oh, this?" the boy stared down at himself. Since the start of the class, he had been working to keep his sitting form hovering just above the chair for some extra practice. "It's the air chair exercise."

"Air chair?! Don't tell me you do that all through class?"

The group's attention on the boy was wide with awe. Just how did he have the strength or energy to do such a thing for so long?!

"There's no way!"

"That's such an old-fashioned exercise."

"What are you saying? The isometric muscle contraction of the air chair means it's an easy way to train without moving..."

As her classmates continued to discuss about the curly haired male's extraordinary training during class, Shiro's ruby eyes shifted back to her list of agencies and flipped through it with thought. Everyone was working hard to reach their goals by picking the right agency to work under, so she can't slack off either. Then a name towards the bottom of the list caught her eye with surprise.

It seemed that it was one of the last to send in a request, and justifiably so, since it was rare for students to receive offers from any of the Top Ten...

* * *

"Internships, huh?"

"Yeah," Aizawa's eyes stayed trained on the forms he was reading over as Snipe walked by his chair. He'd given his students two days to research and look over their internship options, and he's already gotten a few forms turned in by the end of the day. "A few already decided."

"It's an important event. Make sure they think about it properly," Snipe remarked. "There are some third years that still have regrets about it."

"Yeah..." the Erasure hero nodded as he flipped over another sheet. It was Shiro's desired agency form. Since he was currently an instructor for U.A., his agency was not currently operating but there were plenty of other agencies like his that wanted Shiro as an intern. But what caught him by surprise was not the girl's top choice, since he knew her to be someone to grab at the best opportunity when it showed itself, but the agency itself.

The hero Shiro chose was really going to push her to her limits...

However, what was more concerning was Iida's choice when he flipped to his form. The hero was sure there were better choices for the male to choose from, but this one in Hosu City must have stood out somehow... If he remembered, Ingenium was currently recovering in Hosu City. The news of Ingenium being hospitalized by the Hero Killer was not secret among the Pro Heroes, but the villain was still on the loose and it was putting pressure on all of them especially when they are sending out their students.

Aizawa just hoped that Iida's choice wasn't going to be one that he'll regret approving.

* * *

The day of the internships came faster than a blink of an eye.

"You all have your costumes, right?" Aizawa addressed while the group gathered at the train station to go to their perspective cities for training. "Remember, you aren't allowed to wear them in public. Don't drop them or anything."

"Yessir~!" Mina replied with great enthusiasm as she waved her hero suit briefcase in the air.

"Speak clearly! It's 'yes, sir,' Ashido," the hero immediately reprimanded.

"Yes, sir..."

"Make sure you mind your manners with the heroes at your internships. Now, off you go."

Shiro couldn't help but think that Aizawa sounded completely like a dad sending off his children and grinned to herself. "Yes, sir!" she chorused along with the class.

Straightening up at the dismissal, she clutched the briefcase in her hands tightly and went to search for her train. If she were to be honest, she never liked trains that much. She remembered going on it a few times with Aizawa as a kid and she would often get dizzy during the ride. She really hoped that she'd grown out of that phase... While searching, she noticed Iida walking towards the train going to Tokyo. She was about to call out to him when Midoriya and Uraraka beat her to it. Instead, she stood by Todoroki who was looking in the same direction.

There was a certain determination in Iida's eyes when he turned to bid them goodbye, but Shiro couldn't decipher if it was a good look or not.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned about him," Todoroki said softly. "I hope it goes well."

"Yeah..." Shiro tilted her head. There was just not much for her to say when Iida wasn't accepting empathy. She turned to the male besides her, "Hey, where are you going for your internship?"

"My old man's hero agency."

She blinked in surprise. "Really?"

"I have no intention of going the path he wants me to go, but there are some things that I have to learn from him," he looked at his left hand.

"That makes sense," Shiro nodded. "He _is_ the number two hero. If only I didn't find my conversation with him so irksome, I don't think I would pass up on the opportunity if given the chance."

While the prospect of having the chance to train with her was appealing, Todoroki knew that Endeavor would never take a second look at anyone unless he could find something useful about them for his own agenda. Him and his siblings were the perfect example. "Which hero agency did you choose?" he ask curiously. At the very least, they might be on the same train.

"It was surprising," she stated with an excited grin on her lips. "I'm going to—" Before she could finish, the announcement came on about a train leaving in five minutes and she widened her eyes. "Shoot, that's my train. I'll see you after the internships, Todoroki-san!"

Seeing the girl wave before frantically running the opposite direction of him to her train, Todoroki let out a small sigh. He couldn't get everything now, could he?

Meanwhile, Shiro hopped into the train and went to search for a place to sit. Most of the seats were taken, but she found one at the back that seemed to be empty. Making her way down the isle, she was still thinking about Iida's quiet demeanor and Todoroki's voice of concern. While she was hoping that her worry was nothing, she realized a little too late on why the seat in the back was empty.

Anyone would avoid it if their seatmate was going to be the well-known, _angry_ blonde from the U.A. sports festival broadcast.

"Ha...? You're fuckin' with me."

"Trust me, I wish I was," Shiro glared at him and looked around to see if there was any other seat available. It looked like luck wasn't on her side willingly today. If it wasn't bad enough that she had the potential of getting train-sick, she was going to be train-sick in front of _Bakugou_. Putting away her hero suit case, she begrudgingly plopped herself down on the seat.

"Who said I want to sit with you?" he sneered.

"You can move if you don't like it," she shot back.

Bakugou's face scrunched even more as he sunk deeper into his seat. "Whatever," he crossed his arms across his chest and looked out the window as the train started moving. He stayed like that in silence for a few minutes before he peeked over at Shiro again. She seemed to be struggling internally as her lips pouted and eyes twitched ever so slightly.

"Oi," he called out to her. "Talk to me."

He received a weird look from the girl as she turned to him. "What?"

He rolled his eyes, "It's fucking obvious that you have motion sickness. I don't want you to puke all over me so stop concentrating on the movement of the train and start talking, dumbass."

While offended, Shiro couldn't deny how accurate he was at reading her. He just _had_ to be all smart about it. "The likelihood of me throwing up is small," she indicated with a huff. "I just get dizzy and tired."

"Heh, _sure_ ," Bakugou smirked, causing her eye to twitch.

"Maybe I will puke on you so you can wipe that and the smirk off your face."

"I'll throw you out the damn window before that happens."

"Wow, dumb move for a hero _,_ " she taunted while he flipped her off with another threat. Though, she realized that his threats lacked the usual bite. It was like he was just egging her to keep talking, and she _was_ feeling less dizzy.

Bakugou could be kind in his own way, sometimes. Maybe this train ride wouldn't be so bad...

* * *

The train whistled as it zipped past a green pasture. Bakugou was staring out the window again, but this time he was doing so involuntarily.

No, he just couldn't bring himself to look the other way because otherwise he'd look like the biggest fucking creep in the world. There was no way he was going to stoop down to Mineta's level. After an hour of rather harmless banter, Shiro had grown tired and dozed off. It was all fine and dandy on his end for a while, but then she decided to use _his_ shoulder as a headrest.

He didn't know what to do, but he had made the mistake of looking at her sleeping face. Was it really _his_ fault that she literally had the face of an angel when she was not annoying him with her sharp remarks? Of course not! Normally, he'd push whoever dared to use him as a furniture off and give them a piece of his mind, but...

He was probably out of his damn mind.

The train jolted ever so slightly when it passed through an uneven track and Bakugou wanted to blast the conductor and track workers to the next station over for being so careless because it caused the girl to stir. He stiffened when she moved slightly but didn't wake up, and just when he thought he was safe, she snuggled closer towards his neck to get more comfortable.

Her soft breaths were simultaneously sending chills down his spine and making heat shoot up his neck and face. He was _really_ out of his damn mind for not pushing her off. "Fucking shitty Pigtails..." he said halfheartedly, trying to maintain what little tough image he had left. His words seemed to get through her, though, because it made her pout.

He couldn't dare to say it made her look cuter.

A piece of her hair was tickling his neck, so he tried to swat it away without moving all that much. He cursed silently when his finger accidentally grazed her cheek and he froze when she mumbled something.

"...hnng... Stupif Bakugou..."

His eyes twitched but his lips rose to a small smirk. Even in her dreams, she was still throwing insults back at him.

"You're _so_ fucking lucky I like you, Pigtails."

* * *

Shiro was jolted awake when the train came to a stop; looking around, she quickly realized that it was her stop. The seat next to her was empty and she can only assume that Bakugou had left the stop before her. Though, she wondered how he was able to get past her without waking her up or how she slept in such an uncomfortable position... And then she realized that there was a rolled up shirt between her neck and seat.

"Huh...?" she unfolded the shirt and saw that it was a very simple black tee with a skull graphic in the middle. _Is this... Bakugou's?_

 _"Passengers, please be sure to take all of your belongings before getting off the train. Doors will close in two minutes."_

Having no time to think about it, Shiro grabbed the shirt and the rest of her stuff and stepped off the train. Immediately, she was met with a hit of city air with a bit of fresh ocean salt. One of the highlights of the agency she chose was that she was near the port but was also surrounded by many developed cities with numerous opportunities for hero work if she was to go out on supervised patrol.

Making her way to agency, she was feeling nervousness biting at her because of the reputation that her hero of choice had. But, she was feeling excitement pumping in her blood as well.

"Welcome!" the receptionist perked when Shiro walked through the large glass doors of the hero agency. The architecture inside the building was shimmering with an aquatic aesthetic; it was like she walked straight into an aquarium.

"Hello," she replied softly, her ruby eyes focused and determined. "I am a student from U.A. High coming here for my internship. My name is Aisaka Shira—"

Before she got to finish her introduction, she was cut off by a large rumble caused by someone jumping down right behind her and a deep voice resonated through the building with authority.

"Hero name, _'Shiro'_ , correct? I've been waiting."

Shiro turned and met fact-to-face with the towering hero she will be interning under and took in a deep breath to calm herself. Clad in a white suit and his signature orca-like pelt, he was imposing as ever.

 _Gang Orca,_ _the current number 10 hero._

She found that she could only nod in response to his imposing question, and the hero's deep, white ringed eyes narrowed as he scrutinized her. "Sports festival results aside, I will assess whether you really got what it takes. You have one week to prove yourself to me."

 _This is it._ She was here to get stronger. Shiro nodded once more with a firmer look at the hero, "Yes, sir!"

Gang Orca smirked.

"Then let's get to it, _hero_!"

* * *

 **Was anyone surprised that Shiro is going to train under Gang Orca? I always thought he was interesting even before his appearance in the anime hehe. Anyway, _please_ leave some reviews bc I get lonely over here in the author's corner and would like to know if I'm doing a decent job at keep your attention ~ uwu ~**


	21. No Pain, No Gain

**Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _no pain, no gain_

.

.

.

Shortly after meeting Gang Orca, Shiro was led by one of his many assistants to a changing room where she will be putting on her hero costume to start her training. The agency was even bigger than she first had anticipated because she didn't realize there were so many levels, including ones that went underground towards the ocean where the entire place was lined with impenetrable glass. Every sidekick that she'd passed by held themselves tall and proud because of who they worked for, and she couldn't be more thankful to have been accepted as an intern for such an esteemed hero.

"You're the only student in the past few years that Gang Orca had sent out an offer to. He must have seen some serious guts at the sports festival," the assistant said as she directed Shiro into an empty room. "He's usually too busy with missions to participate in the U.A. draft."

"I want to get stronger, so I'm honored to be working besides Gang Orca," Shiro replied straightforwardly.

The assistant nodded at her conviction gave a word of advice. "He's really tough, but if you can push through his challenges, then you won't regret it."

"Thank you."

"Good luck, Aisaka-san," the assistant said and left. _You'll seriously need it._

Once the door closed, Shiro composed herself once again and started to unpack her hero suit case. Since the USJ attack, her costume along with some others were sent to the support department to be repaired or touched up. Her sleeves had been torn so she expected the team to re-sew the fibers, but when she pulled out the costume she realized there was more things done to it than a simple sewing job.

Instead of the original fiber that made up the mesh sleeves, it was constructed with a more durable alloy-like material and she was surprised to feel how light it still was. In addition to the fiber switch, her old utility belt was replaced with a sleeker model that fit snugly on her hips. Finally, a new visor was prepared for her in replacement of the one that broke. The only thing that remained unchanged were the binding ribbons for her hair. Shiro picked up the new costume manual and note that was stashed inside and read it with bewilderment.

"Dear Aisaka Shiragiku-san,

When making repairs to your costume, our company decided to make some changes to the materials. The design is similar to the original, but you'll find the new additions and repairs to be more durable. I mean, it's definitely cooler because I personally added a few of my _babies_ into the upgrade!"

 _Something tells me this was Hatsume Mei's handiwork..._

After changing into her costume, Shiro checked the comfort level of the suit and then touched the side of her visor to fix the position only to find in surprise that her field of vision zoomed into the ground. She blinked and touched the side again, and this time it zoomed back out.

 _This must be one of Hatsume's 'babies'... A visor that can focus on the target better,_ she mused at the gadgets for a while longer before realizing she had spent too much time playing around with her new costume. Exiting the room, she quickly went to find the gym that Gang Orca had instructed her to meet.

"Rule number one!" Gang Orca barked with narrowed eyes as soon as she entered the gym, startling her. "To be a sidekick, you have to be prompt and at the hero's side at all times. You are the hero's most trusted comrade, so you cannot be late to the scene. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir!" Shiro replied with a wave of shame. "I-I'm sorry, it will not happen again!"

The hero grunted in acknowledgement. "Then listen up. Heroes must practice and train every day. That's because there are always villains stronger than the previous one you've taken down. Heroes must always be on high alert and be mindful of their surroundings for the safety of others and themselves. In addition to direct hero work, many also take up side jobs or go on specialized missions. To be a great hero, one must be able to handle all of these things together," there was an almost sinister smirk rising on Gang Orca's face as his eyes bore into Shiro's soul.

"Now, I have told you that I will assess your abilities with a personal test spanning through the entirety of the week. Are you ready for it?"

It was already a lot to take in, but Shiro wasn't planning on backing down yet. She had a feeling that the hero wasn't really asking, anyway. Seeing the resolved look on her face, Gang Orca pulled out something hanging by a string.

"This is your test."

 _A bell...?_ the girl was at a loss as she stared at the bell. What was she suppose to prove with that?

"If you can retrieve it from me before the week is up, then you pass my assessment. It will be hanging on my belt in the same spot and you are allowed to try and take it from me at any time, whether we are out on patrol or simply eating breakfast before training."

Immediately, Shiro understood the hero's intentions, "In other words, you are testing for my strength, stealth, and intelligence all in one..."

"Exactly," the hero nodded and tied the bell to his belt. He crossed his arms across his chest, "The bell can be taken by any method suiting a hero facing off a villain with a stole jewel or ticking time bomb. It is up to you to determine which is the best course to take at any given moment. But no matter what, I will not be giving any mercy."

"What if I don't to retrieve the bell by the end of the week?" she asked curiously.

"Then you will fail this internship."

The pressure of failure hit Shiro hard and she nearly buckled. _Is it even possible to fail an internship like this...?_

Looking at the serious expression that the hero wore, she immediately believed it. But this was a near-impossible test because she was up against the number ten Pro Hero known for his strength and enhanced senses on land _and_ sea. It was as daunting as a defenseless seal trying to outsmart an orca—someone who can _literally_ eat her for breakfast.

 _But..._

She had to _try_. There was no other way around it. If she were to be put in the shoes of others—someone such as Midoriya or Uraraka or Shinso—she knew they would not give up. They've shown that with their strong will to not give up. She wanted to be like them and to prove to Gang Orca that choosing her from his hiatus was the right decision.

"I... I understand," she said. She will not run away.

Gang Orca can see the sliver of fear in her determined eyes, but he had no mind in going easy on her. If he was set out to train her for one week to become a better version of herself, then he will not do it half-heartedly. This was how he operated and he hoped he made the right choice in choosing a student who can take the mental and physical challenge.

"Then, the first order of things," he turned away from the girl and started walking out the gym. "I will show you what a hero is. Come."

It took Shiro a second to snap out of her concentration and she followed behind while eyeing the bell keenly as it swayed with the hero's stride. The jingle it gave off was soft, but she could hear it if she listened for it. It dawned to her that the hero was giving her an advantage because he will always be heard while she was silent. Thus the key was not a confrontational attack, but a sneaky one.

She noted that the distance between them wasn't too wide and if she was fast enough, she could take it within a few seconds when there was an opening. She got that chance when one of the hero's staff walked over towards them and occupied the hero's attention. Immediately, her right eye spun.

"Good morning, Boss—"

 _Bam!_

The girl found herself on the ground as she stared up at the bewildered staff's face and the smirking hero. She gritted her teeth silently in disbelief on how fast and keen Gang Orca was. She had barely made her move and he had already swiped her to the ground with a swift maneuver.

"Not good enough," Gang Orca bellowed without mercy. "Don't just do it aimlessly. Looks like I will have to give you another lecture. Get up."

 _That wasn't even an aimless attempt...!_ Shiro thought incredulously. Her strategy was to make every opportunity to her advantage... If she can't outplay the hero in strength, then she will outwork him with her attempts. Breathing in to clear her mind, she mentally braced herself for the hardships and bruises to come.

"I won't give up _,"_ she vowed.

 _She's hardheaded, but I like the spirit,_ the hero thought. _Let's see if she bends or breaks by the end of the week._

* * *

While Shiro was being presented with the impossible challenge from her chosen hero, Bakugou was facing a different challenge with his.

"Frankly, I don't like you."

"Ha?" Bakugou raised his brows with insult. After changing into his hero suit, he was brought to Best Jeanist's large office with the rest of his prissy sidekicks. The No. 4 Pro Hero regarded his expression coolly from behind styled bangs.

"You only chose my agency because I'm one of the top five most popular heroes, right?"

"You're the one that put in an offer!"

"Yeah," the hero agreed and thumbed a strand of his silky blonde hair. "Recently, I've only been getting good little kids, so you were the first one in a while to strike a chord. I watched you at the sports festival. You were able to freely manipulate a Quirk with high potential and had a good grasp of application as well. You're an outstanding talent good enough to be recruited as a sidekick already, but you have a fatal flaw. You believe yourself to be the strongest, and you try to put that into practice while not caring about how that looks—you have a ferocious nature."

Upon hearing the hero's lecture, Bakugou was shaking with rage. He didn't come to be fucking told that his personality was trash by another hero, even if the hero was regarded as one of the top Pros. That didn't mean shit if he was not going to be learning anything! He marched up to Best Jeanist to give him a piece of his mind, "If you just chose me to give me a lecture, then you can—!"

Bakugou's eyes widened when he was suddenly immobilized. He narrowed and a growl ripped from his throat when he saw that the hero had seized his threads on him to restrain his arms and legs.

"It is part of my work as a hero to correct people like you," Best Jeanist continued on with great cause. "Heroes and villains are two sides of the same coin. I'll show those glaring eyes of yours what makes someone a hero. The way you speak, your appearance, controlling your emotions, enforcing your morals... In the short period of a week, I will sew all that into your body."

 _I-I came to the wrong place...!_

* * *

Late in the afternoon, Aizawa was back in his small home with a pile of paperwork. A stray white cat wandered across the kitchen table, and then another one, a shaggy, dark gray cat with equally dark, curious eyes, jumped onto the window sill that he kept opened and sauntered over casually to investigate what the hero was doing. With everyone out on their internships, he was free to work on paperwork from home. There wasn't much to do except sort out the legal papers for each internship, and there was another more pressing issue on his mind after coming back from the U.A. staff meeting that morning.

Since the USJ attack, the police have been trying to uncover any leads to the "League of Villains" but the progress was slow. They still do not know much about the league's whereabouts or their true intentions. Not much was disclosed to the heroes in U.A. because the police had taken full custody of the case, but Aizawa and All Might were personally given some insights as the heroes directly involved with the incident. According to Detective Tsukauchi, the Nomu the officials captured was sent to a specialized institution to interrogate, but the being was docile and brain-dead. It was like its only purpose in life was to follow orders from its ringleader.

Furthermore, DNA results of the Nomu's identity revealed that he was just a small-time thug with a criminal record of assault and extortion. How he became such a monstrous being could be contributed to the shocking result of finding at least four different people's DNA intermingled inside the original owner's body. Between the drugs and genetic engineering, Nomu was no longer a human but a weapon specifically made for destruction.

Aizawa knew from experience that defeating just one was already a taxing task; it would be devastating to entire cities if more Nomus were to appear... With Shiro and his other students spread out across cities, there was no reassuring way to calm his concern if a serious villain breakout happened again. They needed to get to the bottom of this, and fast.

"Meow..."

The white cat was currently swatting at a piece of paper that was set aside and he reached over to take it away. Her eyes locked with his for a moment before rubbing her head on his hand with a rumbling pur, like she was comforting him in a way. Aizawa scratched her chin and sighed. It wasn't rational to be concerned when his students were carefully being watched under strong and reputable Pro Heroes. Switching gears, he turned his attention to the piece of paper that was apart from the pile of legal documents for his students' internships.

While the internship draft was only aimed towards the hero course, the sports festival wasn't solely for students in the hero course. It was within his job, as well as Vlad King's, to note students who showed potential during the sports festival and see that those students are taken for proper consideration. But even with that said, it was still highly uncommon for those in other courses to transfer. _Especially_ under Aizawa's scrutiny. He had a reputation of expelling more than 50 students from U.A., after all.

 _However..._

The house was quiet saved for the white and gray cats swatting at each other when their paths crossed. Aizawa paid no mind as he picked up the pen besides the felines and finally signed his name on the document.

The cats stopped what they were doing and turned to watch the hero stand from his seat and curiously dropped from the table to follow. In his hand was a request to submit to Principal Nezu about a new mentorship. With Shiro being mentored by multiple heroes in the school as well as in her chosen internship, his focus on her was lessened and can be directed to someone else. Of course, he wouldn't have done it if he felt that there wasn't a right candidate.

"Meow!"

The white cat was still on the ground and rubbed her head on the hero's leg, but the dark gray cat had climbed on a shelf to be at the same level as the hero before jumping to sit on his shoulder. The cat meowed softly again as he peered at the student picture attached on the paper.

"What are you looking at?" Aizawa mumbled before he realized that he was actually talking to a cat. He nudged the cat off his shoulder and the cat landed next to the white one again. They danced around his feet, the initial fight forgotten as they've gotten used to each other's presence. "Pesky things."

He didn't think he used to talk to cats before... _No, that would be irrational._ Maybe he was getting lonely because Shiro wasn't here. Turning back to the only rational decision in his hand right now, he scanned it and sent it off to Nezu...

A request to mentor Shinso Hitoshi.

* * *

 _I'm dreading tomorrow..._

Shiro winced as she felt her back muscles strain with each move that she mustered. She had tried the entire afternoon to take the bell from Gang Orca, by hook or by crook, and she was frustrated that she had been deterred without the slightest bit of effort. The hero wasn't kidding when he said she wouldn't be spared any mercy...

Being thrown down multiple times in a single day _hurt like hell._

It was her last training of the day today and she was to pratice some essential martial arts moves with the other sidekicks for an hour before she could retire for the night. Tomorrow, she will have to think up of new ways to attack Gang Orca without blowing her back out—but that was assuming she could keep it up on top of the regular training program. One thing that made her extremely anxious was that the hero had not even used his Quirk on her yet, so it can only get worst as the days drag on.

 _I have to get the bell as soon as possible._

"If you're not focusing, then there is no value in this training exercise."

Shiro jolted when Gang Orca's deep voice cut through her thought process, and she straightened up even more and threw a harder punch despite her pain. Seeing that she was back on track, the hero let her off. The bell on his hip jingled like it was taunting her.

Gang Orca had noticed long ago that the girl was struggling silently because of the harsh impacts she repeatedly endured today, but he was glad to see that she was still holding on.

 _For now, at least. At this rate, she will not last even three days,_ the hero thought with a mental shake of his head. "As I always say, never do things aimlessly," he instructed further with purpose. "You can work to improve day by day, but you can never rush progress. Be level-headed and steady."

Something about that statement made Shiro think. She reflected on the hero's words and found that he was like Aizawa in many ways. She was never afraid of failure when she was training under Aizawa because he always made her strive to get better. As hard as he was, he taught her that failure was nothing to be afraid of as long as she learned from past mistakes... So it should've been obvious from the start.

The hero gave her seven days, so she was able to utilize those seven days to the fullest extent. But instead, she had been tackling the problem the same way each time in hopes of completing the test quicker without really stopping to _observe_. She thought rushing into action at any available opening will give her a greater chance at making it once, but she hadn't considered spending more time to understand Gang Orca and his habits like he must've intended for her to realize.

Even the top heroes have weaknesses, it was just up to her to find it.

 _That's why he said I was acting aimlessly..._ she finally understood what the hero meant that morning. One good attempt is better than countless half-hearted ones. She curled her fists tighter with determined eyes boring into the hero's back. _I get it now._

"Alright, this will be all for today."

 _"Yes, Boss!"_ everyone chorused.

Gang Orca dismissed everyone just as the clock ticked to ten. He turned to the girl with a daunting stare. "Rest well. There is a long day ahead of you tomorrow," he warned. She didn't falter and the hero could see that there was a new expression on her face. Something had gone through her mind within the last five minutes.

"Thank you for today's training. I've learned a lot," she looked up at him with resolve. "And I won't act aimlessly anymore. I will work hard to retrieve that bell from you by the end of the week."

It was silent for a moment as the hero took in her words, and then he bared his sharp teeth with mirth. _It didn't take her quite as long to get it as I imagined... Good, I'm not wasting my time._ "If you understand, then there is hope," he said approvingly. "I will be looking forward to your progress."

"Yes, Boss!" she said, but the hero raised his brow in surprise at her response. She bowed her head and wondered if she wasn't suppose to call him that. "Sorry, sir... Everyone here calls you that, so I just assumed..."

"That's fine," Gang Orca's deep laughter filled the gym. "You _do_ work under me now. I expect just as much from you as I do with my employees, so I only ask that you don't disappoint me."

Shiro's heart filled with warmth at the hero's approval of her. "I promise you I won't!"

* * *

"Ah..."

Normal Hero: Manual sighed as he took of his hero helmet at the end of the day. Since his agency was situated in Hosu City and the Hero Killer was last seen here, patrols around the city for every agency became extended and more rigorous. At least, he was fortunate to have such an excellent student from U.A. choose his agency. The kid was very intense and on guard, though, and he had an idea on why that was...

Despite it, Manual turned to the student interning after him with a small smile, "Hey, good job today. I'm not saying we can relax, but with the whole city on alert, villains can't come out, huh?"

"I wonder..." Iida replied as his thoughts trailed off.

 _Hero Killer: Stain... I knew immediately after I collected the information. In the seven places he has appeared so far, he always injured at least four heroes. I don't know if there's a purpose or superstition, but nii-san's still the only one who was attacked in Hosu. It's very likely that he will appear in this city again..._

His eyes hardened with vengeance as his brother's hospitalized form flashed across his mind. Because of the Hero Killer, his brother may never have feeling in his legs again. The villain _destroyed_ an honorable hero like Ingenium, and Iida will not stand there and do nothing about it.

 _No matter where you are... I will dispose of you with these hands!_

* * *

"So you were the ones who attacked U.A."

Shigaraki regarded the Hero Killer from behind the hand mask carefully. After Kurogiri brought the villain back to their base, the villain was given a short introduction to who they were and what they wanted of him. Though, he can't say the villain looked or sounded all too impressed.

"But so what? You want to add me to your numbers?" the Hero Killer asked.

"Yeah. Come on, you've got so much more experience as a villain, _sir_."

"What are you after?"

"For now, I just want to kill All Might. I want to break everything I don't like," Shigaraki replied as he casually slouched on the bar. His expression couldn't be seen, but it was laced with malice as he pulled out two additional pictures taken from U.A.'s sports festival. One was of Midoriya, and the other was of Shiro. "Damn kids like this too..."

"Shigaraki, you know master said we must hold back from harming the girl," Kurogiri interjected immediately when he saw the picture of the ruby eyed girl. Though their master can't see the pictures, he had to let the younger male know to not be rash. The Hero Killer scoffed at the notion.

"I was foolish to be interested," he said threatening. "You're the type of person I hate the most. You want me to go along with your childish tantrum? What meaning is there in killing without conviction?"

Kurogiri was immediately aware of what was going through the villain's mind when he reached for the swords in his holster. _Hero Killer: Stain was brought in to spur Shigaraki Tomura's growth, since he cares only about destruction, but this is..._ He turned to the dark screen, "Master, is it alright to let this continue?"

 _"This is fine! There's no point if we just tell him the answer. He should think about where he still needs to mature. Spur on his growth! This is what it means to educate."_

"You think I will join your numbers and go through with your aimless plans?"

Stain pulled out his swords and charged at the the both of them. The warp gate user immediately shot out to protect the younger male, but Stain was fast and maneuvered aside to strike. Kurogiri found himself cut in the arm and unable to move. He can only watch in horror as the villain pushed down Shigaraki and impaled one of his swords into the male's shoulder, immobilizing him.

"No matter what you want to accomplish, it is necessary to have conviction and desire," Stain said. "Those without it and those who are weak will be weeded out. It's only natural. You only have yourselves to blame for the situation ending up like this."

"Oww... That's too hard..." Shigaraki groaned, but more than the pain, he was thoroughly annoyed. "Kurogiri, take this guy back."

"I-I can't move my body..." the man at the bar said with a grunt. "It must be the Hero Killer's Quirk..."

"This society overgrown with fake heroes, where the word itself has lost its true meaning, and the criminals who wave their power around idly..." Stain continued with conviction and moved his sword towards one of the hands on Shigaraki's neck. "Should all be _purged_."

"Not this palm... I'll kill you."

The villain was surprised to see the male reach up and stop it from making contact by grabbing the blade, and seconds later, the blade cracked and slowly started to disintegrate.

"You sure talk a lot," it was Shigaraki's turn to speak as the blade crumbed in his bleeding hand. "Conviction? I don't have anything grand like that. But if I had to say... Yeah, it'd be All Might. I feel like I really want to completely crush this society where trash like _that_ gets worshipped."

The Hero Killer could feel a wave of danger course through his being and jumped back when the male tried to swipe at him with his hand. Shigaraki wasn't just immaturely throwing tantrums... He really is dangerous.

"My last injury was finally about to finish healing, too..." he complained further and stood up. The blood seeped through his clothes and dripped down his sleeves. Using his other hand, he scratched at his neck irritably. A single ruby eye was glaring out from behind the palm at Stain. "We don't have a healer in our party, you know. Will you take responsibility for this?"

"So this is who you are..."

"Ha?"

"It seems our goals oppose each other," Stain grinned maniacally. "However, we do agree on one thing—to destroy the present."

"Stop messing around," Shigaraki grumbled in annoyance and dismissed the villain. He was no longer interested in banding up, not after that stunt. "Go home. Die. I'm the kind of person you hate the most, right?"

"I was testing your true motives," the villain returned his single blade into his holster. "People show their true colors when they're on the verge of death. It's different, but you do have _desire_ —a warped sprout of conviction living inside you. So, how will you bud? It might not be too late to wait until after I've seen that to dispose of you..."

Shigaraki gripped his injured shoulder and narrowed his eyes. "You're gonna dispose of me?" he scoffed. Seeing that the warp gate user was slowly gaining back his mobility, he ordered him to get rid of the villain from the premises. "Kurogiri, I don't want someone this crazy as a party member."

"But Shigaraki, he will be a great asset if he joins us. The negotiations was successful."

"..."

"Seeing that my business here is done, return me to Hosu," Stain said when the male kept quiet. His eyes held a form of deranged malice. "There are still things I must attend to there."

* * *

 **Happy holidays! I loved all the responses I got for the previous chapter and I'm stoked to know that you guys all loved the idea of having Gang Orca mentor Shiro! This chapter is a build-up chapter since this arc gets more intense with the Hero Killer in the mix. How did you guys like the bell test idea though? I can't deny that I got the idea from Kakashi ( _Naruto_ ) XD Also, sorry for the minor spoiler that Aizawa starts mentoring Shinso! It happens/is revealed later in the manga but I suspect that most of you guys already know. I just felt this chapter was appropriate to introduce it ~**

 **Please let me know your thoughts! ^^**


	22. Heart of a Hero

**Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _heart of a hero_

.

.

.

 _Shiro, barely three, was giggling as she ran down the old dusty hallway and towards the creaky staircase. Silver-blue hair flowed behind her as she whipped her head back to make sure that her playmate was still behind her. "Come on!" she encouraged._

 _"I don't want to run…" the boy, older by a few years, grumbled. His voice was meek compared to the excited little girl's, but she only grinned and tugged at the approaching boy's long sleeves. They were both wearing old hand-me-down clothes, but the boy's shirt looked more tattered due to small fingerprint shaped holes littering across the sleeves. The girl didn't care and continued to tug._

 _"We'll get in trouble…"_

 _"But I want to play with you," Shiro pouted with big ruby eyes looking up at him. It was curious, because it was in the middle of a hot summer and the boy still wore the hood on his shirt up, and along with his messy bangs covering most of his face, she couldn't see him clearly but she was obviously very familiar with the strange boy._

 _"..."_

 _"How about we see who can get down the quietest… The fastest!" she continued in shushed tone, looking around to make sure that no one was near. She was quick to adapt and just wanted to have some fun; what little kid didn't?_

 _Looking around as well, the boy finally agreed and the girl was smiling with glee._

 _"Okay! Ready? Set… Go!"_

 _Quickly, the two children tip-toed down the stairs as fast as they could. Any harsh movement would cause the old wooden boards to creak and crack, so to prevent that, they were shuffling their feet. But it was hard to move so slow when the second objective was to get to the bottom of the stairs the fastest, so at a second of rushed movement Shiro tripped over her own feet and let out a panicked scream._

 _The boy panicked as well and shot out his hand to grab her shirt. Because of his frail body however, he was quickly losing balance as well so he quickly grab onto the old wooden rail with his other hand and held on as tight as he could._

 _"S-Safe," he sighed, but the two's relief was short-lived when a loud crack and crumbling was heard as the boy suddenly found himself falling forward with the girl again, his hand gripping to thin air. They tumbled down the rest of the stairs loudly and crashed onto the dirty floor with a loud bang and thump!_

 _Footsteps immediately resonated down the hall and a heavy-set woman looked down from the top of the stairs at the commotion and damage with a scowl._

 _"My rail!" she screeched angrily when she saw that a piece was missing and stomped down the stairs. Shiro cowered behind the older boy, and his frail body trembled. "You again! I ought to throw you out of my orphanage for all the damage you cause!"_

 _"I-I was just trying t-to—"_

 _"Shut your mouth and go to your room! I swear if I have to replace another thing in the house because of you, there will be no dinner for a week!" the woman shouted as she started dragging the struggling boy away and down the hall and towards a small room before throwing him inside and locking the door from the outside. Shiro started to cry, one because she hit the ground hard, and two because she felt it was unfair that the woman only ever blamed and picked on the boy when there was trouble. She tried to run towards the door but was stopped by the woman._

 _"Leave him! From now on you stay away from him, got it?"_

 _"B-But," Shiro's lips trembled while she tugged. "I—!"_

 _"What I say is final!" the woman chidded and dragged the crying girl away. "Tenko… He is a disaster."_

 _Tenko._

 _Tenko..._

 ** _...Tenko?_**

 _BEEP BEEP! BEEP BEEP! BEE—!_

Shiro groaned as she was forced awake from her dream before pushing herself up from under the covers. She felt an unsettling swirl of emotions in the back of her head but she chalked it up to being awoken so early; she did set the alarm at seven in the morning to allow herself ample time to plan and observe Gang Orca, after all. Still, she thought back to that odd dream.

The boy in her dreams… _Tenko_ … She seemed close with him but she couldn't remember anything. If it was a real memory, she hoped that he was doing well after the fire, seeing as it didn't look like he was very well liked in the orphanage...

"Agh, now's not the time for this," she finally mumbled and threw back her covers. Her days haven been fully occupied with only two goals: to learn new hero skills and to find a way to retrieve that bell from the Pro Hero. So the thought was pushed back into the crevices of her mind.

After getting ready and quickly changing into her hero suit, she set off to mentally prepare herself for the day ahead of her. She's been calculating it in her head after many tries; with the hero's fast reflexes, she needs at least five seconds of distraction to get close enough to the bell and another three to actually grab and take it away.

Eight seconds was her limit.

 _Eight_ freaking _seconds_.

Shiro grunted, and with a large exhale, she allowed the dials in both of her eyes to flash briefly as she made her way down the hallway. _Let's see if something interesting happens today._

* * *

 _Splash!_

Despite Gang Orca's sheer size, he was as agile as ever as he dove into the giant swimming pool that was for his private use without causing large splash-back. He was as swift on land as he was in water, but because of the nature of his Quirk, he often gets dehydrated when he's out of the water for too long and the only way to make sure that he was in tip-top shape and stay sharp was to be in water whenever he's got the time.

Even though he was rigorously doing laps, it was a form of relaxation for the hero, especially since he had previously been away on a long mission. Taking on the UA internship gig was a pretty good deal for him.

Which is why, then, he paused mid-lap and surfaced with a low chuckle at the newcomer who dropped into the pool room with stealth.

"Looking for this?" he lifted himself up from the water to reveal the silver attached to a small belt on his swim trunks. The silvery-blue haired girl stayed emotionless, though he could see the corner of her eyes twitch. He glanced at his white robe that was hanging on a lounge chair and then looked back at Shiro. "You didn't expect me to be careless enough to leave it with my things while I went swimming, did you? Even if this is a private pool."

Shiro, though annoyed that her presence was so quickly revealed, had expected this and shook her head instead. "Sorry for intruding… I didn't realize this was a restricted area." She had tracked the hero down to this particular section of the building and wanted to try her stealth not knowing that it may be off limits to her.

"No," Gang Orca laughed out loud this time. He gave Shiro a slightly impressed look. "I'm surprised you managed to get in and stay undetected until I heard your steps towards these chairs. Well, my hearing is ten times better underwater than on land," he boasted good naturedly as he stepped towards her. Seeing that she was next to the robe, Shiro grabbed it and handed it over to the hero.

"Ah, thanks—" he narrowed his eyes when the threads of the robe started to rapidly fall apart before fastening around his outreached hand in a locking bind, much like he had witnessed during the sports festival when the girl was forced to use her shirt as a weapon.

 _Three seconds._

Immediately, Shiro jumped, pulling the bound arm away to access the bell on his right side and Gang Orca responded by using his left arm to block the girl. Being much faster and closer to his own body the hero was able to deter the girl from his front side and he was prepared to then block another one of her attacks by shifting away from her leg, but to his surprise, she shook the loose white threads off his bound arm and right before his eyes it morphed back into an intact robe. _Five…_ As his attention shifted to swipe the large cloth away from his face, Shiro crouched down.

 _That rascal…_ Gang Orca's eyes narrowed even more as she reached for the bell, intending to grab it and slip under his legs.

 _Eight…!_

The light ring of the bell echoed through the pool room just before Shiro found herself propelling into the pool with a loud splash! Quickly surfacing, she spat out the water and coughed to relieve the burning in her nose and throat.

As if to taunt her, Gang Orca dangled the bell above her form with an amused grin. "So what did you learn from this?"

"Catching you by surprise doesn't work," she replied gloomily.

"On the contrary," the hero stretched out an arm to pull the girl up. She was head-to-toe drenched and water continued to pool around her from her wet hero suit and hair. "You've managed to touch the bell. I'm impressed."

Shiro was thoroughly surprised as the hero chuckled and dropped the white robe on her head. She was ready to hear more of the hero's taunts and lectures, but this was an unexpected development indeed.

"We're going patrolling today," he added.

"...Really?"

Gang Orca grinned. "Dry up first, and there's still training today. We'll be patrolling in the afternoon."

* * *

The first few days of internship was bad for Bakugou.

Best Jeanist may be the number four hero in the country, but this was _absolutely fucking ridiculous_. His red eyes strained as he glared at himself in the mirror with that prissy looking hairdo. His normally spiked up blonde hair was somehow glued to his scalp, completely ruining the entire aesthetic of his wild hero look. Every morning, he was forced to resemble one of _them_.

"A hero must give the people who need rescuing peace of mind. You must appear capable, of course, but your physical appearance, speech, and actions must be elegant if you're a hero. Do you understand?"

"Best Jeanist knows best!" the hero's entourage chorused while Bakugou couldn't even find words to sputter out in his shock. He had seriously come to the wrong place! Aside from ripping on his appearance and mannerisms, the hero had not given him a single task to enhance his hero skills in fighting villains.

With a final sweep of the comb, Best Jeanist stepped back from his seething masterpiece. "Now, I've managed to salvage your appearance to be more elegant."

"Are we finally gonna fight some fucking villains?!" Bakugou's scowl widened, but this time with excitement.

"Of course not," the hero dismissed immediately. "What did I just say? A hero must control how he speaks and acts as well. You are merely on the first of many reforming steps."

"Then what the fuck are we doing—?!"

"Being a hero doesn't always mean fighting villains. You must learn how to deal with your anger and pride especially in public."

The heat from the blonde's seething head was enough to cause his newly gelled hair to explode back into angry spikes. _I'll burn this agency to the ground…!_

* * *

Being out and smelling the salty air made Shiro smile. While the time training inside with Gang Orca was valuable, she was excited to finally get some real life experience. Being out also meant that she can find more oppurtunites to ambush the hero for his silver bell.

"In an urban area like this, there is a lot of crime. Thus it's crucial for heroes to regularly patrol the city. The higher the population density, the more trouble you'll find at every corner," Gang Orca was explaining as they patrolled through the populated city. Many civilains saw the Pro Hero and watched with amazement; being a top ten hero always gave him a spotlight, however his towering form and menacing aura caused many of the fans to only admire him from afar. This worked out well for Shiro since the abundance of attention would only distract her.

"M-Mama! Scawwy!"

They turned their attention to the little girl who was pointing at the Orca hero from across the street with a scared look. She couldn't have been older than three years old, and the mom in question was pulling on the child's arm in a hushing manner when she realized that Gang Orca and Shiro was looking their way.

"Sorry about that!" she apologized warily before walking away fast.

Shiro heard the hero sigh softly and grew curious. It seemed that he was quite affected by the little girl's comment. Gang Orca didn't seem like the type that would care to seek out fan attention, but she's learned that looks can be deceiving. However, before she got to comment on it, there was disturbance up ahead that gained both of their attention.

Just a block up ahead, there was a loud explosion from a jewelry store and from the cloud of smoke a two villain jumped out with stolen goods in their bags.

"Are you ready, Shiro?" Gang Orca's voice was calm. "When the public is in a panicked frenzy like this, it makes it harder for heroes to apprehend the villains. Don't engage with the villains. You'll help with clearing the area and checking for any injured people, got it?"

"Got it!" Shiro was happy that the hero trusted her enough to let her contribute. As the hero jumped ahead, the dial in her right eye spun as she rushed to help guide the scared civilains to safety. The smoke and debris from the destroyed building made it hard for people to leave quickly and a few of them had gotten small cuts from the initial explosion, but she was able to get them out of the way from where Gang Orca was fighting the villains. She saw that he landed a punch on the skinny-looking one and was about to subdue him when a flurry of metal objects came pelting their way.

Shiro was able to jump out of the way, but to her surprise, the pieces that were flung behind her started to boomerang _back_. She realized that it mustve been the burlier villain's Quirk—he was like a magnet that can attract and repel metal. The skinny villain took the second of distraction to get out of Gang Orca's grasp and he used his wind quirk to whisp over a small child.

"HE'S GOT MY BABY! HELP!" the mother cried. The child and the mother was the same ones that they saw just minutes earlier.

"If you want this little girl unharmed, then move out of the way!" he snarled. The villain was hurt so he was taking the coward's way out. He knew that while it was easy for Gang Orca to take him down, he couldn't do so without hurting the civilian. The hero's hesitance gave the magnet villain the go to wreck havoc.

"HAHAHA! TAKE THIS—!"

 _BOOM!_

 _Gang Orca, Quirk: Orcinus._

While the hero couldn't touch the wind villain, he was still able to target the other one with his hypersonic wave and paralyze him. The soundwaves had caused an invisible explosion and the force had blown her back several feet.

"L-Let me go! M-Mama!"

The cries from the little girl grew even louder as the villain threatened her and held her up like a shield to prevent the hero to get too close. His partner was already being apprehended, so he was growing desparate. "Stop squirming or you die!" he shouted with a knife waving dangerously close to her neck.

Shiro looked around; even though the hero had ordered her to _not_ engage, she _needed_ to do something.

 _Think!_

There was a broken pipe sticking out from the blown up building, which was just a small distance from the villain and the little girl. Her eyes lit up with an idea and her legs moved without hesitation while she undid the ribbons in her hair.

"Gang Orca!"

"What do you think you're doing?!" Gang Orca bellowed when she jumped in front and used her ribbons to swing herself from the pipe towards the villain.

"Please trust me on this! Use your hypersonic wave now!"

The hero didn't have time to reprimand the girl as he caught on to what she was trying to do. Within seconds, she was in front of the shocked and angry villain and in one motion, she kicked him hard enough for him to loosen his grip on the hostage and she wrapped her ribbons around to catch the girl. The silent but powerful soundwave followed right after to prevent the villain from making another move. Shiro had just enough time to close her hands over the scared little girl's ears before the soundwaves hit them all. If she thought the force of it was powerful before, being the target of it was downright _excruciating_. Her body was paralyzed immediately and she fell to the ground with the little girl safety on top of her.

"M-My baby!" the mother rushed towards the fallen girls while the wind villain was finally apprehended. Her tears streaked her face as she pulled her little girl safety into her arms.

"Mama!"

The authorities have arrived at this point, so while they worked to take statements and direct the people who needed medical attention towards ambulances, the woman stood with her child and bowed deeply to thank the Pro Hero. "Thank you for saving my little girl. Thank you, thank you! I can't thank you and your sidekick enough!"

"This is what heroes do," Gang Orca said with a grin gracing his face. "No need to thank us."

Despite his scary demeanor, the little girl was no longer scared of his appearance and even reached over to hug the hero.

"Thank you, hewwo!"

The hero was visibly estatic and it didn't go unnoticed by Shiro. However, it was hard to move _or_ speak right now after being hit by the hypersonic wave. She knew it'd hurt, but boy did she regret it. She can only be happy about being able to save the little girl.

"Miss hewwo!" the little girl bounced up to Shiro with curious eyes. "Awwe you hurt?"

"I'm okay..." Shiro smiled, but it was quickly followed by a wince when Gang Orca's shadow loomed over her. From her angle on the ground, the orca's red eyes gleamed intimidatingly at her. "B-Boss..."

"What a reckless sidekick you are," he bellowed, his voice firm with reprimand. However, he bent down to help her up. "Know that I can't excuse you for disobeying my order. You will stay out here for community work to help restore the damages."

She had to refrain from sighing. Gang Orca never did make anything easy.

"Yes, boss..."

* * *

A dark cloud swirled on top of a tall building as the portal opened to reveal Shigaraki and Kurogiri. Stain was crouched at the edge of the building, looking over the city without paying any mind to the two villains.

"Hosu City looks nicer than I expected," Shigaraki commented. "So, what are you gonna do?"

"I'm going to reform this city. In order to do so, I require more victims."

"Is this what you meant the other day when you said you had business to take care of?" Kurogiri realized. The hero killer had a pattern of taking out a certain number of heroes in each city before moving on to the next, and Hosu hasn't met that quota yet.

"I see you're someone who understands," Stain stood back up. It was an obvious diss at Shigaraki, and it didn't get past the male too kindly as he was reminded of the pain from the knife wound on his shoulder.

"What're you trying to say about me?"

"'Hero' is a title given only to those who have accomplished great deeds!" Stain ignored the villain and pulled out his sword in preparation. "There are too many... Too many who _act_ like heroes but are really money-worshippers. Until this world realizes its mistake, I will continue to appear."

In a flash, the hero killer was gone, jumping from building to building until he slipped into a dark alleyway to seek more victims to finish his work. Shigaraki scuffed.

"He talks all high and mighty like that, but he's basically trying to start a grassroots movement. He's so noble I could cry," he mocked while scratching at his neck while Kurogiri observed calmly.

"You shouldn't make fun of him too much. The reality is that in all the cities where Stain has appeared, the crime rate has fallen. Some critics attribute this to a rise in heroes' consciousness and shoot him down, though."

"That's wonderful, isn't it? Heroes are working hard to bring down the cost of food, huh? So the 'hero killer' is also a 'hero breeder'!" Shigaraki exclaimed enthusiastically, but then his shoulders dropped with a look of disgust. "It's too roundabout. We can't agree on a basic level and he annoys me... Kurogiri, bring out the Nomus."

The portal swirled into view and one by one, monstrous beings known as Nomus stomped listlessly. The master was able to produce many more in such a short period of time; they weren't as strong as the first Nomu of course, but the numbers make up for it.

"You think you can get away with stabbing me? If I want to kill you, I just will. That's all," Shigaraki mumbled with a wild look in his eyes as he stood proudly over the army of Nomus. He looked at the direction where Stain disappeared to. "It'll be a wild contest. I'll crush your honor and your pride, _sir..._ Release half of them into the city, Kurogiri."

"Half?"

"Yes... I'm angry right now so I want to play a game."

* * *

"Ah, thanks for all your help!" one of the construction workers praised. It was around seven in the evening and they've been cleaning up the jewelry heist mess for over four hours. "Gang Orca's agency really have the best people. You're a bit young to be working with him though, aren't you...?"

"Don't you know? She's an intern from UA High. You know the one with the sports festivals?"

"Now I remember! You won third place, right?" the worker asked as he looked at Shiro with regonition now. "Wow, that's quite amazing!"

Shiro offered them a small, appreciative smile as she continued with picking up the trash and debris around them. She really shouldn't be so surprised that people are still talking about the sports festival, since it _is_ a nationally broadcasted event, but she still didn't quite know what to say whenever people talked about it.

But the workers were all really nice. She didn't mind being out here doing community work and there were a few of Gang Orca's men also helping with the clean up, but the downside is that while she was out here she can't continue with the test. It was a fitting punishment, she supposed, for not listening to orders and putting herself in danger as an intern.

"Our future is filled with capable young heroes, and we'll need them!"

"Yeah, you've heard about the Hero Killer: Stain, haven't you? It makes me uneasy knowing he's put so many heroes in the hospital without a chance of recovery. I heard he's probably still in Hosu City..."

As the men shifted the topic to the news, Shiro felt the worry return. Iida had told them his brother survived the attack, but the fact was that many of the other heroes weren't so lucky. To have such a ruthless killer out and about was unnerving...

 _Ping!_

She reached in her pocket to pull out her phone for a message. Earlier in the week she had exchanged a few messages with Midoriya about Iida's behavior and she wondered if the green haired male was able to get Iida to open up more the past few days.

 _ **Midoriya Izuku:** No updates from Iida-kun. He may just be busy... I sent him a message about passing by Hosu tonight but he never responded. _

_**Aisaka Shiragiku:** Hoping for the best. Isn't Hosu a bit of a distance away from your internship? _

_**Midoriya Izuku:** Yes... Gran Torino wanted me to get real life experience with fighting villains... TTTT so we're heading to Shibuya... How has your internship been, Shiro-san?_

 _ **Aisaka Shiragiku:** Been tossed around, but I think I'm making progress. Currently doing community service as punishment for engaging with a villain during a jewelry heist._

 _ **Midoriya Izuku:** ?!_

 _ **Midoriya Izuku:** I have so many questions_

"Kids these days with their cellphones," Gang Orca loomed over Shiro as he commented. The girl jolted and met with the hero's grinning face. "Boyfriend?"

"I don't have one," she replied honestly and slipped the phone back in her pocket. The hero chuckled and ushered her to follow.

"I hope you understand why I put you up to this?"

"Because I went against your orders," Shiro replied with a blink.

"That's right," Gang Orca nodded. "Interns, sidekicks... It is necessary for them to follow the hero's orders because not doing so can very well compromise a mission. You put yourself in danger today and if your plan hadn't worked, the little girl's as well. However, being a hero means that you follow your heart and do what you think is right, and you did that today. I'm certain you'll be a fine hero because you've already showed me that you can."

"So today's work..."

"While this may seem like grunt work, it's actually important for a hero as well. Heroes not only serve the city by protecting them from villains, but they also help out the city in whatever way they can. Being present in the community is just as important as fighting villains," he revealed and patted her head. "The workers are thankful for your help. Good work today."

His praise made Shiro's chest swell with a sense of pride. She smiled as they walked back to the agency when out of the blue another ping from her phone caught her attention.

It was from Midoriya, but this time he wrote something in their class groupchat. Or rather, he pinned an address from Hosu without any context.

 _Hosu... Could it be that something happened to Iida?_

Her worries were temporarily interrupted when a monstrous shriek echoed through the night and Gang Orca grabbed her just before a dark, muscular Nomu crashed through the wall and slammed his fists down where they were once standing. Shiro's eyes widened in horror.

 _A Nomu...!?_

* * *

 **It's been a while :o BUT IM BACK! I'm super stoked for season 4 to come out in October and I'm getting antsy! Hopefully I can pump out more chapters so it catches up to current events hehe :)**


	23. Trash of Society

**Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _trash of society_

.

.

.

 _Urayasu City_

Gang Orca had seen many things during his years going on missions and being a hero, but this monstrous being was something new to him. The creature was like a science experiment gone bad—its large muscular body was telling of its strength to blow through cement walls, but what was unnatural was the ghastly sight of its brains spilling out and that wild, insentient look in its bulging eyes. "What kind of creature is this?!"

"It's a-a Nomu," Shiro, who had been saved by the hero's quick action, was in disbelief. The last time she saw a Nomu was in USJ, and the creature had all but killed Eraserhead. The memory of seeing the man bleeding and unconscious made her entire body rigid with fear and anger. "Why are there _more_ of them...?!"

And _why_ , were they _here_ of all places? Does this have anything to do with what Midoriya sent in the groupchat? Was this the doing of the League of Villains?

 _Shigaraki…!_

Seeing the mixed emotions in the girl's eyes, Gang Orca got a sense of why the sight of the being was so terrifying. He had heard about the USJ attack and can deduct this 'Nomu' was what All Might had fought to keep the students safe. But this time it wasn't just one of them, with his enhanced hearing he could pick up that there was at least a handful more wreaking havoc in the inner city.

The Nomu swung its arm down again at the hero, but he intercepted it and threw a powerful punch back right in its face. The force was enough to rattle anyone's brain, but the Nomu seemed unaffected and let out a shrill screech. Clearly, it was out for _blood_. Dodging another blow, the hero released a hypersonic wave and it propelled the creature back into the side of a building. However, after a few moments of pained shrieks, was slowly moving out of the rubble like it had simply absorbed the shockwaves.

"There's not much time," Gang Orca instructed quickly to the still-shocked girl. "By now my agency and many others should have been alarmed. I'll call for one of my subordinates to take you back."

"N-No! I want to stay and fight!" Shiro snapped out of it with a determined glare. She couldn't be helpless! "I _need_ to!"

Gang Orca narrowed his eyes seriously, "You do not hold a licence to fight villains and this is not your typical villain. As a student, you do not have permission to fight—"

"Then _give_ me permission," she demanded pointedly. "You can do that! I've encountered a Nomu before—I _know_ I can't physically do anything against those things, but logistically, I can help you! Let me _help_. You said that's what heroes do, right?!"

He had to applaud the galls of the girl to speak to him in such a way, but what she said moved him. He'd taken on the role of an educator and she was a fast learner. He couldn't stand there and make a hypocrite of himself when he had said heroes always acted with _heart_. And she was right; students are permitted to fight only under a hero's explicit permission and guide. "You must stay within my sight at all times," he ordered. "Any engagement with the Nomu is _prohibited_ unless you are aided by me or another Pro Hero. _Do you understand_ _?_ "

Shiro was already in battle mode once the hero finished his intructions, and she nodded with a burning fire in her eyes as the Nomu came charging at them once more.

 _This time, I won't let it hurt anymore people!_

* * *

"Shigaraki, I'm not sure master would be pleased about this," Kurogiri warned as Urayasu City transformed from a peaceful night to that of unrest. As ordered by the male, three Nomus—half from the army they brought—were roaming about the port city and destroying everything and anything in their paths.

"He _only_ said to keep her _alive_ ," Shigaraki indicated. He would always follow the master's orders… And he had given permission for him to use the six Nomus as a learning experience. As long as no rules were broken, the master always allowed Shigaraki to do as he pleased. "Besides, that _hero_ she's with won't let her die that easily."

His ruby eyes followed the trail of destruction with glee; whether the Nomus will be successful or not didn't matter, he just wanted to see how much pain and destruction they can cause among the two cities. He didn't care for Stain's twisted ideal of breeding true heroes—he just wanted to crush every single one of them. Releasing Nomus in Hosu was in part to take care of Stain, but importantly because it was in west Tokyo, and the city as a whole was a hub for those self-righteous, disgusting heroes. He was in luck that Shiro happened to be in a city that also bordered the east side of Tokyo. It was just like in the video games where he would surround the enemy on both sides and forcing them into a corner.

 _You want to be a hero so bad…_ Watching the girl trying to act the same way as those heroes made him cringe with anger. _Then I want to see how well you can handle the destruction caused by three Nomus. Can you save **everyone**? _

The screams of civilians as buildings crumbled was intoxicating to his mind.

"Kurogiri!" he spoke with a maniacal laugh. "Isn't this fun? Look at the players scrambling! We'll check on Hosu next... Let's see which city can bring out the _most_ trash heroes!"

* * *

Hoards of people were running for their lives in the inner city, which was causing a total congestion of the area. When Shiro and Gang Orca had arrived to the scene from chasing the first Nomu, they were met with two more Nomus of different shapes and sizes and chimeric abilities. One was even _flying_. Other Pro Heroes at the scene already were having a hard time keeping them at bay as they seem to be immune to their attacks and spreading out further.

 _"It's Gang Orca!"_

 _"Our country's No. 10 hero! Save us!"_

Gang Orca slammed the first Nomu down into the concrete and turned to Shiro, "Help the civilians get to safety! I have to take care of this!"

Shiro nodded and dashed off to the crowdest area. Looking up ahead, she could see a flying Nomu heading towards that crowd and she immediately activated the dial in her right eye and threw a trash can lid at the creature with all her strength. The metal clanged loudly as it hit the Nomu in the face, causing it to stop momentarily. The female Pro Hero that was trying to subdue the Nomu gave Shiro confused glance seeing that the girl was merely a student, but she was appreciative of her help and went to blast the Nomu away from the large group of civilians.

"Everyone, exit into the alley on your left!" Shiro shouted, guiding the people closest to her towards the area and hoping that the rest will follow. Scanning around, she could see a clear escape route down the alley to the other side of the street where there was a secure storm shelter. "Please don't push, you will all get there!"

However, while she was getting the group to safety, the flying Nomu was quick to knock the female Pro Hero into a building a block away with its muscle augmenting Quirk. The woman was injured badly and couldn't move from her spot, thus the creature focused its attention back on Shiro. It screeched angrily and headed straight for her in retribution.

 _I can't have it coming towards the civilians…! I need 30 seconds to stall,_ her right eye spun wildly as she ducked to lead the villain away from the group. She jumped on top of a large truck that was next to a large pole and taunted, "Over _here_ , bird-brain!"

"IEEEEEEK!"

As the Nomu came plunging towards her, Shito calculated in her head the exact moment she can jump. There was only one shot at this and anything out of place will potentially cost hers and the lives of others. _Three… Two… **One**!_

She leapt away just as the flying Nomu reached the car and she immediately used her ribbons to bind the creature to the sturdy pole next to her. She knew she couldn't hold it off for long, but the ribbons were made with a special alloy that will be able to keep it bound for a least the amount of time needed for the rest of the group she was rescuing to escape unharmed. "There, that should—"

 _FISST—!_

Her ruby eyes widened with disturbance as a gas started to produce out of struggling Nomu's body. _Gas?_ she covered her nose and leapt from the gas, but the Nomu's struggle proved fruitful as it broke the pole he was bound to and the large structure came timbering down straight at Shiro. Coupled with it opening its mouth to gather a spark-like orb, she realized that it was about to ignite the gas.

A sliver of a memory flashed across her eyes as she vaguely remember watching a similar scene of a large, burning wooden bar falling towards her. Then, it skipped back to a familiar young face that she couldn't quite recall, making her freeze in her spot. _Who...?_

"OI!"

The sound made her snap out of it and she realized that she wasn't going to make it.

 _BOOOOOM!_

The wind was knocked out of her lungs as she felt an impact on her body, but no burning sensations from the explosion followed and she quickly opened her eyes to see that _someone_ had scooped her away seconds before the sparks ignited. "B-Bakugou?!"

"Damn you Shitty Pigtails, why're you trying get yourself killed again?!" the blonde growled before landing on the ground with her in his arms. His grip on her was tight with anger and worry. "Stop being fucking stupid and stay out of danger!"

Shiro didn't refute; her mind was in a jumble of confusion and questions but she snapped out of it and the only question she could think of was: "Why are _you_ here?"

"Ha?! We were patrolling by the border when I stopped to see that text from fucking Deku and suddenly that pompous No. 4 ran off towards this city! You should be glad that I followed 'cause you would've been rotisserie chicken by now," he glowered.

It then clicked that Midoriya's text had been a call for help. However, with the situation at hand there was no time to spare to get help when her own city was under attack. She really hoped that someone else had understood the message—there was no time to dwell on this further because the flying Nomu had escaped from its bindings with another shrill cry.

"Stay back, I'll blow his shitty brains out!"

But before Bakugou can take any action, the Nomu shrieked from being pulled back by invisible threads. Two of them found its way to Bakugou as well to stop him from joining the fight.

 _Best Jeanist, Quirk: Fiber Master._

"I did not allow you to engage in a fight with these villains," Best Jeanist reminded as he controlled the threads in his hands. Each thread was piercing and slicing the Nomu's skin, but he noticed its regenerative abilities and frowned. "You two, it's dangerous here. Leave this to the Pros."

Bakugou was visibly shaking from anger. Shiro, while being in the presence of hero held in even higher regard than Gang Orca, wasn't in the mindset to mindlessly follow bureaucratic rules and stop saving people when she still can. "With all due respect, Gang Orca gave me permission to be here and I intend to stay. Also, I could use Bakugou's help!"

"An intern of Gang Orca's?" Best Jeanist frowned. "Hm, I cannot speak against his decision about you, but Bakugou is my intern and he will not partake."

"As if—!" Bakugou gritted, but Shiro stopped him with a hand out in front of him and eyes that said to trust her.

"In situations like this, the most important thing right now is to keep the civilians safe and not argue about the rules! We're not trying to get in your way, we just want to make sure this thing ends _now_!"

With a moment's thought, the Genius hero decided that the girl was right and snuffed. "Come with me then," he said strictly before leaving to toss the struggling Nomu back to where other Pro Heroes with relevant Quirks can properly knock it unconscious.

Upon release, the spiky blonde let out a feral growl. "Damn him to hell…" his fiery eyes locked with Shiro's and he bared his teeth, "I didn't need your pity begging! I was going to do something no matter what!"

"I _know_ ," she replied, causing him to stop his antagonistic rant and watch her facial expression switch into a serious glower. She wasn't playing around. "You're going to what you want anyway, might as well get permission first so you don't get into severe trouble later. Now, are you going to put aside your _godforsaken pride_ for one second and be a hero or not?"

She wasn't looking down on him. She was _looking out_ for him like a decent friend.

It was infuriating.

"Tch!" Bakugou turned abruptly with an angry blush. "Let's go then!"

* * *

 _Hosu City_

When Midoriya's train to Shibuya was attacked by a Nomu, the growing worry in the pit of his stomach had intensified. He couldn't stay back even though Gran Torino had ordered him to not move; they were in Hosu and he had an inkling that the Nomu, as part of the League of Villains, was somehow connected to the Hero Killer. He had hypothesized that the villain was still around, having not finished his business here yet, and Iida was in the same city with a vengeance. Then learning he had ran off from Manual, he was scared for his friend's life.

 _I hope I'm not too late!_

He was proven right to his dismay—when he reached Iida the male was already badly injured and the Hero Killer was just about to finish him off. It wasn't just Iida that was injured, there was another Pro Hero who had been badly injured in the corner. He couldn't grab both of them as he was by himself; he just prayed that someone in his class groupchat had understood his message and alerted the authorities to come to his location before it was too late.

"Midoriya-kun, don't get involved!" Iida gritted from the ground. Stain had cut him and his Quirk had paralyzed him from moving. "This has nothing to do with you!"

Seeing his friend in pain and still being stubborn, Midoriya was in disbelief. "What are you saying?!"

"Your friend came to save you. That's a great line, isn't it?" Stain spoke as he gave Midoriya a glance and trailed his eyes back to the male on the ground. "But I have a duty to kill him. If we clash, of course, the weaker will be culled."

Just his words alone was able to instill a foreboding fear down to Midoriya's core.

"Now, what will you do?"

 _He's different from the villains from USJ. His eyes are those… Of a real killer._

"Run away! I told you, didn't I? It has nothing to do with you!" Iida shouted.

"If you say that, then heroes can't do anything!" he shouted back with bite. His back was to the injured male in a protective stance. _There's a lot of things I'd like to say, but I'll say them later. It's like All Might said…_ "Meddling when you don't need to… Is the essence of being a hero!"

Hearing those words, Stain grinned. _This kid is different from the others._

In a flash, Midoriya was coming towards the villain with green static building up around his body. It was just like he trained with Gran Torino, to use only 5% of his power allowed him to utilize the tremendous ability without hurting himself. _Imagine an egg in a microwave… Get close to him in one movement!_

"Don't get cut, Midoriya-kun! That's how he activates his Quirk!"

Midoriya ducked just before Stain could swipe one of his swords at him and he got behind the man. Quickly jumping, he flew above him. "Five percent Detroit… _SMASH_!"

The impact blew the villain back and Midoriya was certain that he had done it; however, he suddenly felt a suffocating restriction in his body and dropped to the ground. "Wh… My body…!" On his left shoulder was a miniscule of a cut.

The Hero Killer walked towards his frozen form and he was able to see the small drop of blood on one of his knives. Realization hit Midoriya. _I see… He somehow controls blood by ingesting it orally…!_

"It wasn't powerful enough," Stain mused. "It's not that you saw through my movements. You left my field of vision and maneuvered so that you would definitely be able to bring me down... That was what your movement was like. People who are all talk are a dime a dozen, but you are worth letting live. You're different from _these_ guys."

The tip of his sword was pointed at Iida's face and Midoriya struggled to move helplessly. "Stop it—!"

 _FWOOOOOOSH!_

A burning stream of fire blasted towards the Hero Killer and forced him to jump back, saving Iida's life at that moment. The three conscious people at the scene all widened their eyes in surprise to see Todoroki standing at the entrance of the alleyway with flames swirling around his left side.

"One after another…" Stain grunted with annoyance. "There are a lot of people getting in my way today."

"Midoriya. You need to give more details in times like this," Todoroki said as he held up his cell with the pinned location on his screen. "You made me late."

"Todoroki-kun…!" _Does that mean Endeavor's around, too?_

"It took me a few seconds to figure out what you meant since you only sent a location," he replied and activated his right side so that a billowing mound of ice formed to raise the injured Pro Hero, Iida, and Midoriya off the ground before using fire to let them slide behind him. "You meant that you were in trouble and to call for help, right? Don't worry. The Pros will also get here in a few minutes."

The combination of ice and fire attacks caused Stain to retreat several feet and he grunted. _My time will be up soon, huh?_

"It's just like the information about him implies," Todoroki narrowed his eyes as he faced the villain. "I won't let you kill these guys, Hero Killer."

"Heh," Stain lurched forward with his sword. "You have good friends, _Ingenium_!"

As the fight between the dual Quirk male and villain broke out, Iida was gritting his teeth with frustration. "Please, stop! I've inherited my brother's name… _I_ have to do it… That guys' mine…!"

"You inherited it? That's strange," Todoroki replied while he forced an iceberg up towards Stain, momentarily blocking his sight of the threat. "The Ingenium I saw before didn't have that look on his face, though. You've got a lot going on behind the scenes in your family, too, huh?"

 _C-Can't move…!_ Midoriya was grunting in pain as he tried with all his might to move his limbs so he can help. When he felt his fingers twitch, he realized that the effects of Stain's Quirk was slowly wearing off. Meanwhile, the block of ice was sliced into numerous pieces as it crumbled to the ground. Stain had an annoyed look in his eyes.

"To block your own view against an opponent faster than you… What a foolish plan!"

The flames on Todoroki's left side set ablaze. "I wonder about that—" but before he could move, two small knives impaled itself into his arm and he winced in pain.

"You're pretty good, too," the Hero Killer was above him with the tip of his jagged sword pointed at the Pro Hero next to him.

"Above you!" Midoriya's body slammed into the villain and he dragged him along the side of the building with all his strength. "Somehow I can move again!"

"A time limit?"

"N-No, that kid should've been the last one he got," the Pro Hero, Native, winced in pain. "I can't move yet."

The green haired male was slammed down to the ground as Stain released himself and landed back on his feet. His face showed both irritation and comendment. "Get back, Midoriya!" Todoroki ordered as ice shards rushed towards the villain. Midoriya scrambled to his side with a pant.

"He takes in a person's blood to keep them from moving… Since I got free first, I can think of three possible reasons. It could be less effective with more people, the amount ingested could affect how long it works, or there could be a difference in effectiveness based on a person's blood type!"

"Blood type?" Native mumbled, "I'm type B…"

"I'm A…" Iida added.

Todoroki and Midoriya looked at each other. They were both type O, so if that was the case, then Stain's Quirk has less paralyzing effect on both of them.

"Not bad," Stain grinned. "You are correct."

 _Hero Killer: Stain, Quirk: Bloodcurdle._

"I can't really do anything just by knowing his Quirk, though..." Midoriya frowned, watching the villain's every step carefully. Todoroki nodded while gripping his injured arm.

"I wanted to hurry up and carry those two out of there, but he can react so fast that he can avoid ice and fire. I can't leave myself that open. I think our best option is to hold on by avoiding close combat until the Pros get here."

"Todoroki-kun, you've already shed too much blood. I'll distract him, so you support me from behind!"

"That's a pretty big risk, but yeah…" his heterochromatic eyes lowered with determination. "The two of us will protect them!"

Iida watched his two classmates' back as they faced the Hero Killer. They showed such bravery and strength that he could only bite the insides of his cheeks with regret and frustration. He wasn't strong enough to do the one thing he vowed in order to bring justice to his bedriddened hero brother, and now he had even dragged two of his classmates into this mess. He was a failure!

"Iida, I've been worried about you since your older brother was attacked," Todoroki's voice broke the male out of his turmoil as Midoriya dashed forward for a frontal attack first. "Because I know well the face of someone who would act on pent-up resentment. I also know just how narrow the field of vision can get for someone like that… After reconciling with my mother, she taught me that I have to move forward without it holding me back."

"Todoroki-kun…?"

"I have no intention of forgiving my old man, but I joined his internship so I could experience the fact that he is the number two hero with my own eyes and body and accept that."

 _"Get ready. We're going out."_

 _"Where? To do what?"_

 _"If this incident follows precedent, then the Hero Killer will appear in Hosu City again. We will be going there for a time on a business trip and work there."_

 _No matter what a scumbag he is, I had to appreciate the judgement and instincts of a man called the number two hero,_ Todoroki gritted his teeth and threw a blast of flames at Stain to cover Midoriya as he got behind the villain. "It was so simple… So simple yet I couldn't see it because of the rage I had—the rage that is in you right now."

The meaning behind Todoroki's words hit Iida stronger than any blow Stain had given him. _These two…_

 _"Save that guy first."_

 _"I came to save you, Iida-kun!"_

 _"The two of us will protect them!"_

"S-Stop it…" Tears welled up in his eyes. His friends were getting hurt because of his irresponsible actions. "Please.. I'm already…"

Forcing the flame to become even bigger, Todoroki turned back to Iida for a second with a look of urge and encouragement in his piercing eyes. _Just a few words from Shiro and Midoriya was able to let me see clearly… So..._ "If you want us to stop, then _stand up!_ "

 _The only words I can say to you are…_

"Look properly at what _you_ want to be!"

With that final push, Iida's hand twitched and he was able to get his engine started just as Stain's sword came slashing at Todoroki. "Iida-kun!" Midoriya shouted as the engine Quirk user used his Reciprocal Burst to counter Stain's sword and save the other male.

"The Hero Killer is right... I am different than you two because I was only driven by my selfish desires. I can't hold a candle to you guys… But I cannot allow you to bleed anymore because of me!" he vowed. _I will atone for my mistake!_

"It's no use trying to be reformed for appearance's sake," Stain degraded with a scowl, gripping his broken sword with blood dripping down his hand. "You will never be anything but a fake who prioritizes his own selfish desires. You are a cancer to society that warps the idea of 'heroes'. Someone must set you straight!"

"Iida, don't listen to the logic of a murderer—"

"No, he's right. I have no right to call myself a hero… Even so, I cannot give in," he said with pain and renewed determination in his eyes. "If I give in, then Ingenium will die."

 _"Out of the question!"_

There was a change in Stain's expression but it was so brief that nobody but Todoroki caught it. There was a crazy tenacity in Stain—now with Iida standing alongside Midoriya and him, it was making him flustered. _He's getting desperate…_

The three of them will have to take Stain down simultaneously with this last burst... Or else they will not make it.

* * *

 _Urayasu City_

"Damn it, I can't see these shitheads!"

Shiro was getting the last of the injured people from the inner city into safety as Bakugou watched her back and blew away any threat coming their way. Best Jeanist had apprehended one of the three Nomus, and Gang Orca landed an earth-shattering punch at the Nomu with six arms. It knocked the creature unconscious, though the impact of it had caused the road to break and shatter, creating flying debris and sand particles to engulf the street.

She spared a glance at the blonde through the cloud of smoke just in time to see a silhouette of the last Nomu behind him. Her heart pounded as she quickly activated the right dial in her eye, "Bakugou, _behi—_!"

Just as the Nomu attempted to swipe at him, he blasted at the ground to flip his body around and aimed multiple flash explosions at its back. The Nomu was shrieking as it stumbled. "What're you staring for?! We gotta go!" he growled as he got away and pulled on Shiro's arm. Meanwhile, the Nomu was taking a few moments to regrew the torn skin but Gang Orca was on it to give the final blow.

Feeling Bakugou's grip on her made her hit the realization that even though she had warned him and tried to help, it was marveling at how fast he was to maneuver out of that pinch. His quickness, his intelligence; it surpassed her own by _miles_.

Shaking her head to pull herself out of it, she released his hold on her arm and followed close behind. "Gang Orca's got the last one so we should report back," she stated instead.

"Don't order me around!"

His attitude was seriously unbefitting of a hero, though. It was a pain to be around him, yet... "Thanks for having my back," she said begrudgingly. She couldn't have rescued nearly as many people if he hadn't helped with attacks and allowed her full attention to stay on her task. The muscles on the blonde's back visbly tensed, but he did not stop.

"Stupid! I just didn't want to deal with the screaming and crying."

 _...Of course,_ she rolled her eyes. A thought ebbed at the back of her mind: just what kind of hero did Bakugou want to be if he didn't like anything _except_ to fight and prove that he was the strongest? _He's such an anomaly_.

Yet, something in her didn't doubt that being a hero was what he had and will always aim for.

"Shiro," Gang Orca's voice bellowed as they approached the Pros getting the three Nomus rounded up for the authorities. He glanced at Bakugou with his narrowed eyes, "Is this a classmate of yours? I am glad you both are unharmed."

"So you're interning under him?" Bakugou grumbled at Shiro with a biting sense of jealousy. Gang Orca's image was much more in line with his own. Though Best Jeanist was No. 4 in the country, he had gotten _no_ useful fighting lessons from him and tonight's events was the only thing that allowed him _some_ sort of excitement. "Tch!"

"That will be my unruly intern," Best Jeanist said as he walked up to the orca. Taking care of the Nomus had caused his hair to get all ruffled, though no one but himself noticed such a thing. "I'm surprised you requested for a student this year. I can see why, though."

"Oh? You're bothered. She said something that bothered you, didn't she," Gang Orca grinned.

"Not particularly," the other hero insisted before turning away. "Bakugou, come. We must return. Chaos can sometimes tempt people and draw out the cruelty that lies sleeping inside them at their core. It will be business as usual when we get back."

"Sure, Best Jeanist!" the sidekicks that came along chanted.

Bakugou glared at the hero, but that only made him get dragged along by threads.

 _What is he, a dog?_ Shiro wondered as she watched the male go. Clearly being ordered around by the Pro Hero was something that he couldn't get over and she now knew why he was so angry with her earlier. Now that she thought about it, Best Jeanist was a renowned stickler for appearances... Bakugou should've known this when he picked the hero's agency. _What an idiot..._

"Unruly intern, huh?" Gang Orca was deep in thought. From what he's seen from the sports festival, Bakugou was very strong. _Wild_ , but strong. Seeing him in person confirmed it. All that strength in one place, as long as it was projected in the right direction, could be beneficial to society. _But if it isn't..._

"He's just rough around the edges. Maybe Best Jeanist _is_ the best choice for him..." Shiro's absentminded mumble grew the hero's attention back to reality. He looked at the usually quiet girl curiously as another thought surfaced.

"Hm. Is _he_ the boyfriend?"

"...!" Taken aback, a small blush made its way to the girl's face as she looked at her internship mentor angry with embarassment. "I-I told you, I don't have one!"

Gang Orca smirked, letting her know he was just teasing to lighten what was a pretty intense and dire night. "Oh. It's just that you were staring pretty intently at your phone before the attack, and suddenly Best Jeanist shows up with his little intern."

"That as nothing to do with him," she huffed, but her hand reached back into her pocket at the mention of messages. Her expression grew serious as she revealed to the hero. "It's my friend who's in Hosu City... I'm worried they're having the same problem as us."

"The same type of villains occuring at two different places simultaneously? They seem too mindless and uncoordinated for this type of attack... Unless there was someone behind it."

"At USJ, there was a portal villain who can transport others to different locations within minutes. The organization he's in _has_ to be behind these attacks," she insisted. There was no other explanation; it was the League of Villains. The organization was slowly becoming more notorious among the population and it was causing unrest.

Seeing that there was no more incoming messages from Midoriya on her phone, Shiro gripped it tight.

 _I hope everything is okay..._

* * *

 _Hosu City_

"Native-san, can you move?" Midoriya asked while Todoroki and Iida was tying up the unconscious Hero Killer. They had barely made it, but the villain was apprehended for now thanks to their combined strengths.

"Yeah, I'm okay now," the Pro Hero said as he picked up the badly injured boy on his back. "You hurt your legs pretty badly. Let me at least carry you out."

"T-Thank you very much…"

"That's my line."

"There," Todoroki tied the last knot and pulled at the rope. "You can really find anything at the trash collection site."

"Todoroki-kun, I'll pull it!" Iida volunteered adamantly, but the male shook his head. He was the least harmed out of the three of them.

"Your arms are messed up, right? I'll be fine."

"Sorry…" Native apologized to the three as they trudged out of the alley. "Even though I'm a Pro, I was just in the way."

"No, I don't think you could've done anything one-on-one with the Hero Killer's Quirk," Midoriya consoled. "He's too strong…"

Stain had made some mistakes while trying to fight the three of them combined, but he was still so strong that they barely made it out alive. It was only fortunate that Midoriya had a fast recovery time from his Quirk, and Iida's speed and power from his Recipro Burst was what threw him off.

"Well, then, let's quickly turn him over to the police," Native said as they walked out to the street. They came face to face with an old man who was just about to enter the alley. Midoriya's eyes widened.

"G-Gran Tor—"

"Why are you here?!" Gran Torino exclaimed before using his Jet Quirk to connect his boots with the male's face. "I thought I told you to stay seated on the bullet train!"

"Who's this?" Todoroki asked.

"The hero I'm interning with... Gran Torino," Midoriya winced. "But why? How did you know we were here?"

Still fuming, the short old man replied, "I was told to come here all of a sudden by Endeavor. Well, I don't really know what's going on, but at least you didn't die out here, kid. Geez."

"I-I'm sorry..."

Meanwhile, more footsteps was heard and a group of Pro Heroes appeared around the corner, all urgently towards their location. "Endeavor-san said there was a request for help here, but... Eh? Children?" one of them looked at the students with confusion.

"Those injuries look serious! I'll call the ambulance right away!"

"H-Hey, this is..." one of them noticed the tied up man behind Todoroki. "Is that the Hero Killer?!"

"What—?"

"Call the police, too!"

As the Pros fussed and dialed the numbers for the needed services, Iida limped over towards Todoroki and Midoriya and bowed down with remorse. "You two were injured because of me. I am truly sorry! I..." Tears formed in his eyes as he bit his lip. "I couldn't see anything... Through my anger..."

Midoriya's expression soften at the sight of the aplogetic male. "I'm sorry too... Even though you were feeling so cornered, I didn't notice at all. Even though we're friends..."

"Pull yourself together. You're the class rep, right?" Todoroki said in his own way of encouraging the crying male. Iida nodded and wiped away his tears with his less injured arm.

The fight with Stain couldn't have taken more than ten minutes, but to them, it felt like a very long one. They were just glad that it was over...

"Get down!" Gran Torino suddenly warned with alarm. He sensed something flying straight at them—it was an injured Nomu that had escaped Endeavor's grasp! But before anyone can react quick enough, its clawed feet grabbed Midoriya off of Native's back and pulled him away.

"MIDORIYA!"

Its powerful wings caused a forcefield of wind to trap the others while he made an escape. Debris flew about and one Pro got splashed with a bit of its own blood. To know that the creature was able to escape even after a beating from Endeavor was alarming—but in a second, the Pro felt a rough tongue lick the blood off her cheek and suddenly the Nomu shrieked, its limbs frozen in place as it pummel downward with Midoriya in tow.

With a burst of energy, the Hero Killer started dashing towards the falling Nomu with a hidden knife in his hand, his arms released from his bindings and eyes glowing a vicious red. "This scoiety overgrown with fake heroes... And the criminals who wave their power around idly... Should all be _purged_!" he declared as he plunged the knife into the Nomu's skull. Midoriya turned to look at the villain with wide eyes. It was unbelievable... He _saved_ him by killing the Nomu!

"That is all..." Stain had one hand gripping Midoriya's hero suit and the other pulling the knife out. A spurt of blood came with it, "...To create a more just society."

"H-He saved the boy?!"

"But he killed that thing with no hesitation!"

"Anyway, get ready to fight!"

The Pro Heroes braced themselves when suddenly Endeavor made his presence from chasing the flying Nomu over to this location. "Why are you guys standing around?" he barked before his blue eyes narrowed at the Hero Killer in front of him. "Don't tell me, this man is...?"

With labored breaths, Stain inclined his head to look at the No. 2 hero. The mask around his eye slipped off. "Endeavor."

"Hero Killer!" the hero grinned as he activated a large flame around his arm and got ready to fight. However, Gran Torino stopped him.

"Wait, Todoroki!"

Slowly, Stain released Midoriya and got up. He slowly, with labored breaths, turned towards the group of heroes with complete ire and disgust in his eyes. The sight of his expression was chilling to the bone to everyone at the scene.

It was dark, monstrous, and full of conviction.

"You fakes... I must make things right... Someone must be dyed in blood..." The closer he stepped, the more constricted everyone felt. It was like an invisible evil force had grabbed them by the torso and squeezed. "I must take back what it means to be a hero! Come! Try and get me, you fakes! The only one I'll let kill me is the true hero... **_All Might_**!"

His aura was so strong that one of the Pros even staggered back. The darkness engulfed them and left a promise of suffering for his cause. And then, just as quickly as it came, it stopped. Stain stopped moving and his knife dropped to the ground with a _clang_!

"He's..." Endeavor realized, "...Unconscious."

A breath of relief washed over everyone before Todoroki and Iida fell to the ground. Midoriya's emerald eyes were blank with the sense of fear still lingering in his soul. The Hero Killer hadn't licked anyone's blood, but at that place, for that one moment...

The Hero Killer was the only one who stood up to fight against his opponent.

* * *

"What the hell?!" Watching from a tower afar, Shigaraki was angry. "Why'd that Nomu have to go and get killed? Why is _that_ kid there? There's so much I want to say that I can't keep up... This is a mess..."

All of his Nomus were apprehended. The _kid_ showed up and didn't die. He wasn't allowed to kill his sister. The destruction that the Nomus caused weren't as satisfying as he had wanted it to be. What a disaster! But...

 _This is not over... Not in the least._

He let all five of his fingers touch the binocular and it crumbled to dust. "Let's go back."

The ability gap between the first Nomu and the ones master gave him tonight were day and night, but the only consolidating fact was that the Hero Killer was also gone...

"Were you satisfied with the results, Shigaraki?" Kurogiri asked as he activated his portal to let Shigaraki retreat.

"Idiot. That depends on tomorrow."

* * *

 **Hopefully the errors are minimal! I speed-typed half of this because I wanted to get it done so that I can focus on actual school work tomorrow. The joys of having to read 50+ pages per class (I have 4...) each week. Please leave a review to make me happy ^^**


	24. Shigaraki Tomura: Resurfacing

**Disclaimer:** _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _shigaraki tomura: resurfacing_

.

.

.

 _Shimura Tenko was not really liked by his father because of his fascination with heroes. Ever since he could talk, his father would punish him whenever he said or did anything hero-related. But those early years in his childhood wasn't too bad because he had a mother who loved and doted on him and allowed him to talk about heroes to his heart's content. Whenever his father threw him outside to cry alone, his mother would come out and give him an encouraging hug to make it all better._

 _Then his mother got pregnant again._

 _When the family learned that the unborn baby was going to be a girl, he saw his father smile for the first time. It was so weird to see that; he's never seen that for as long as he could remember._

 _He was almost five then, and that was around the time that most kids already manifested their Quirks. He didn't seem to possess any though, and he could feel that his body was going through weird changes and it was making him frail. Still, he stayed optimistic. His mother would encourage him and pat his head despite not being able to move as much due to her enlarging stomach._

 _Another baby..._

 _Will he like his little sister?_

 _He thought that maybe if his sister comes to like heroes too, then his father wouldn't be so mad when he talked about them. The day she was born, Tenko was able to come to the hospital with his father to see his tired mother. She looked pale and sick, but she was happy._

 _"Look Tenko, isn't your little sister cute?"_

 _His ruby eyes stayed on the infant for a moment as he observed carefully. She was small, with chubby hands and a peaceful sleeping face. The tuft of hair on top of her head was a lot lighter than his; she couldn't open her eyes yet, so he wondered what color they were. When he heard his mother chuckle softly, he suddenly remembered that he had something for her and the new baby._

 _He stretched out his small hands to show her a white chrysanthum, "F-For you…"_

 _"A shiragiku..." the tired woman smiled brightly as she took the flower. "What a great name you've picked out for your little sister, Tenko."_

 _ **Shira... Shiragiku...** He barely had time to say the name over in his head before the machine that was attached to his mother suddenly started to beep in alarm. Her pulse was flat-lining. Frightened, Tenko tried to reach for his mother but was harshly shoved aside by his father._

 _"Move out of the way! DOCTOR!"_

 _As the doctor and nurses rushed into the room, he was further pushed out into the hallway. He didn't know what was happening and his head pounded loudly. He could hear the shouts and the continued flat-lining beep from the machine._

 _It was too long._

 _"M-Mother…"_

 _Way too long._

 ** _—_** ** _Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep_** ** _—_**

 _Alone, in the hallway, Tenko clutched his chest. He couldn't see what was happening, but he knew now. His chest heaved and he felt a jolt of pain throughout his body; he wasn't sure if it was from the pain of loss or the pain that he's been experiencing the past month that's been making his body frail. He only knew that it hurt._

 _When his father finally walked out with the bundle in his arms and a grim look on his face, Tenko ran over with teary eyes. But the man didn't even give him a glance as he walked past the traumatized young boy._

 _"We're leaving." No explanation, no consolation._

 _It was like he was just…_

[]

"...an afterthought," Shigaraki gritted his teeth and crumpled the newspaper he was reading. On the majority of the pages, it was reports of the Hero Killer being captured and recounts of his mission to purge fake heroes. There were hardly any mention of the Nomus that wreaked havoc in the cities. "Are the Nomus just secondary?!"

He had thought that once the night was over, the world would have forgotten about Stain. How wrong he was. Ruby eyes glazed with hatred at the familiar feeling boiling up his chest.

"Not only have they not forgotten, but we ended up being the damn side story."

* * *

Shiro scrolled down the article with ruby eyes furrowed. Every news outlet had written or broadcasted that the Hero Killer: Stain was defeated last night in Hosu City. The hero behind his arrest was Endeavor, the country's No. 2 hero. Finally reaching the end, she found a mention of three Nomus that were apprehended in Hosu, all taken down by Endeavor as well. The news in Hosu paled in comparison to her city's attack, but she was just glad that it was over...

 _But what about the SOS from Midoriya?_ she wondered. There was no mention in any of the news articles about U.A. students but she was sure that something had happened with the curly haired boy. He wasn't the type to send out random things to the groupchat. Suddenly, the buzz of a notification made her scramble and click open the message.

 _ **Midoriya Izuku:** Apologies! Everything is okay now. As you've heard, last night Hosu City was under attack and me, along with Todoroki-kun and Iida-kun were caught in the middle of it. In the situation I was only able to send the address of my location to call for help. Fortunately, Endeavor was able to relieve the situation and the Hero Killer has been caught! Iida-kun, Todoroki-kun, and I are safe! Sorry for worrying you guys!_

A breath of relief washed over Shiro and she set down her phone. It was good news to hear that all of her friends made it out alive. Though she didn't know the severity of the situation because Midoriya didnt reveal it in his text, she could go about her day now without the lingering worry hanging over her head.

Furthermore, it was about time that she met up with Gang Orca for basic training again.

Unaware, of course, that all around the country, underground villains that have also heard the news about the fall of the Hero Killer were gathering...

* * *

 _ **Aisaka Shiragiku:** We had a bit of a Nomu situation in Urayasu City as well, but the pro heroes took care of it. Bakugou and I helped evacuate._

 _ **Aisaka Shiragiku:** But I'm glad you are okay. Rest well, and please tell Todoroki-san and Iida-san to do the same._

Midoriya was both glad and concerned about the texts he recieved, but at the end he let himself relax because the situation was over. It just came as a surprise, especially with Bakugou in the mix...

 _ **Midoriya Izuku:** Thank you, Shiro-san! I'm glad to hear you and Kacchan are safe too!_

Since this morning, he's been getting a flood of messages from his classmates since from the news had let out and questions about his SOS. Uraraka even called; _her voice was so close...!_ But he was able to reassure everyone without revealing too much.

To save their futures as heroes, the truth about what really happened in the alley with the Hero Killer could not be let out. Endeavor was given the credit so that he, Todoroki, and Iida wouldn't receive severe punishments from the government about using their Quirks and acting as heroes to fight villains without a license or even the explicit direction of a Pro. But to him, the credit didn't matter as much as his future as a hero anyway. He was glad that the Chief of Police, Tsuragamae Kenji, was able to let this ordeal go silently.

That didn't mean that they got away with completely, though. Even the Pro Heroes they were under had to receive some form of punishment for not looking after their charges. And for the three of them... He and Iida weren't able to return to their internships because of the severity of their injuries. The exception was Todoroki, who was free to go due to recieving relatively light injuries. Letting out a small sigh, Midoriya hopped back to the room he shared with Todoroki and Iida.

"I've talked to our classmates and told them we're fine!" he reassured the two. "Ah, I got a text from Shiro-san to wish us well... Apparently, the Nomus hit her city too...!"

"Is she alright?" Todoroki asked in alarm.

"Y-Yes, she's fine! I'm sure we are the only ones who got injured like this," he rubbed the side of his head sheepishly. "But we'll recover, right?"

The room grew quiet for a moment before Todoroki spoke again.

"...Iida just finished getting examined."

The seriousness of the situation dawn on him and Midoriya paused and hopped over closer to the two. The bespectacled male was staring at the ground with a firm look in his eyes.

"My left hand might have long-term damage..." he revealed somberly.

"Long-term... Damage?!"

"Both of my arms were pretty beat up, but it looks like the damage to my left arm was especially severe," he rubbed the area on top of his cast. "There was damage to my brachial plexus... But it just means that I'll have trouble moving my hand and fingers and experience some numbness. When I found the Hero Killer, I stopped being able to think. The first thing I should've done was to tell Manual-san, but I forgot myself in my anger."

Iida distinctly remembered what Stain had said to him when he brazenly declared that he was going to kill him in the name of his brother...

 _"Being taken in by the hatred before you and trying to fulfill your own desires... That's the furthest from what a hero should be."_

"I hate him, but he spoke the truth. That's why," he looked at his left arm. "Until I become a true hero, I think I want to leave my left hand as it is."

Seeing as the male himself had accepted it, there was nothing more for Midoriya to say. Instead, he gave Iida an encouraging look as he lifted his own scarred right hand. "I feel the same way, Iida-kun." _I will let this hand guide me._ "Let's become stronger... Together."

They nodded at each other with determination. Meanwhile, Todoroki looked away with a sense of guilt as he realized something. "I feel... Kind of bad..." he said.

"Huh? About what?"

Cold sweat washed over Todoroki's body as he stared at his own hands, "I feel like if I get involved... Other people mess up their hands..." he stared at it even more intently. "Is it a _curse_?"

Shocked from the male's revelation, Midoriya and Iida took a minute before they burst out laughing. The halls of Hosu General Hospital filled with their loud chatters.

"T-Todoroki-kun, I didn't know you could make jokes!"

"No, I'm not joking. I'm like 'The Hand Crusher' or something."

"Hahahahaha!"

" _The H-Hand Crusher!_ Hahaha!"

* * *

 _"A phone call... Is here!"_

 _"A phone call... Is here!"_

 _"A phone call..."_

The emanciated Symbol of Peace grabbed his phone. "Hello? S-Sensei!" Blood spurted out of his mouth in shock and he scrambled out of the room to continue the call because Gran Torino started to chew him out about Midoriya on the other end. Seated inside the room still, the other teachers watched.

"That ringtone is annoying as usual," Eraserhead grunted with bloodshot eyes. Present Mic grinned exasperately. Everyone was on edge after hearing the news from this morning, but they all still had to continue their staff duties even without the students.

"Eraser, you're more irritated than usual, aren't ya?"

Of course he was in this state; with the approved permission from Nezu, he had started training Shinso Hitoshi after his regular General Course classes and was constantly tired. However, today he was more scruffed up than usual because of the news that Nomus had attacked Hosu and Urayasu. While everything had turned out okay (according to the media which he hated), it wasn't wrong of him to worry about Shiro and his other students, was it?

It was annoying but he cared.

"Has the kiddo said anything?" Present Mic asked, but the silence gave him an answer. "Well, she's interning under Gang Orca! He's got it under control. If I didn't know better, I'd say you have Empty Nest Syndrome."

Eraserhead glared back before shuffling some papers. How completely absurd. "Get back to work."

"Yeah, yeah~"

* * *

"So, explain to me about your Quirk."

Shiro stared at the orca hero before her and blinked. Most internships of this level only focused on enforcing the values of a hero, exemplify it by doing non-risk activities such as going on patrol, and basic training sessions to increase strength and endurance. Little emphasis was put on special trainings targeting individual Quirks because of the short time period and it was generally UA's job during hero training, but it wasn't to say that some heroes don't pick out students specifically for the potential of their Quirks.

"Well, my eyes can control the probability of things around me. I'd like to think of it as my left eye deals mischief and my right eye deals luck... Basically as long as the actual probability of something is above 0%, I can change it," she revealed. "If I activate both of them and touch what I'm targeting, then I have the power to rewrite reality. Kind of like changing the fate pathway of something completely."

Gang Orca hummed as he took in the girl's words. "Interesting... Does it enhance your physical abilities?" he asked. He could see how it would be hard to work with a Quirk like that without also having a physically strong body to make up for the physical component that it lacks, but he's seen her agility and speed. Though not the fastest, she can really use that to her advantage.

"The only thing I'm able to achieve so far is allowing my attacks to hit at a higher percentage, like if I was throwing something and it only has a 50% chance of making the mark, I can change it to 100%. But my power stays the same," she replied with pursed lips. "That's why I want to get stronger physically even if my Quirk isn't a physical ability unless I use my rewrite... But I don't have enough energy to use it significantly unless I want to risk permanent damage to my body."

 _Reality Rewrite._ He's heard about it and seen it during the sports festival. While he acknowledged it as a powerful ability to possess, he can tell that the girl can only perform the most basic level of it. He wonders if he can push that further, not necessarily make her exert more power because he knows the drawbacks for a still young and inexperienced body, but rather to allow it to work in tandem with her other attributes. _There's only a short amount of time to try this, but it'll at least lay a foundation._

Shiro watched the hero curiously. He wasn't saying anything but the look on his face was too serious to be good, and she wondered if he thought that she was at her limit already. Before she can voice her concerns, though, Gang Orca spoke.

"I think there's more wiggle room to your Quirk," he drawled, surprising her. "We'll test out that potential."

"Y-You really think so?"

"That depends. Do you believe in yourself?"

"I know I can give it my best shot," she said honestly.

There was no question about it; he knew the potential the girl had. It's why he chose her to come to his agency for the internship in the first place, and she continues to imprShess him by her sheer will. Gang Orca nodded with approval.

"Then you will have to be prepared to train harder than before. For the remainder of your time here, you will start with morning breathing exercises to allow your lungs to take in more air, followed by water training in the afternoon, and ending with an infinite obstacle course."

 _Lungs... Water... **Infinite** obstacle course...? _Those things swirled around Shiro's head as she tried to grapple with all the information. An apprehensive look shifted across her expression, "But what about the bell test?" she asked.

"It goes without saying that it's still in motion. That is, if you still have energy by the end of training to continue."

"B-But..."

"There's four days left of this internship. That should be plenty of time," the hero grinned with a scary expression. There was just no way the orca can smile without looking downright _evil_. "If you're going to talk big about wanting to being a hero to protect others, then you must be willing to bear the hardships of becoming one that can actually have the ability to do so. Unless you don't want to? In that case, we will go back to normal training."

Shiro realized this now—the previous days were simply _warm up_ compared to the real hell she was about to face. She was given an option, but that option was not viable, not when she had the Pro Hero's recognition. Backing out now will be cowardly of her and not many people get this kind of chance. Breathing in, she nodded, "I'm ready to start."

"Good. This is the easy part. Sit down," Gang Orca instructed. As soon as the girl did, one of his sidekicks came in with something small in his hands. She furrowed her brows when she noticed that it was a balloon. The hero picked up the flimsy rubber, "First, you will concentrate on your breathing by taking long and slow breaths. Keep doing it until you can hold in more air each time. Once you think you've achieve that, you will blow into this."

Shiro watched as Gang Orca took in a deep breath before putting the opening of the balloon near his mouth. Then, in one continuous release of air, the balloon expanded bigger and bigger until...

 _POP!_

The loud noise echoed throughout the room and left a small ringing in her ears.

"The balloon is only an indicator. If you're able to pop it in one breath, then you will have succeeded in gaining the optimal lung capacity."

Upon completion of the demostration, the sidekick laid out another balloon, this time a little smaller, next to her before disappearing. Shiro glanced at the rubber thing and gulped. _This is at least smaller but... I have to try and pop it in **one** breath? Is he joking?_

For such a serious hero, he sure does come up with the weirdest challenges.

"I will come fetch you in the afternoon for water training," Gang Orca said before leaving the baffled girl by herself. "Until then, do your best."

 _...He is dead serious_

Drawing in a large breath, she blew into it as hard as she could. The balloon expanded and got to a decent size, but it was nowhere near popping. Not being able to draw out anymore air, she had to release and the balloon deflated once again. "'This is the easy part', huh?" she mumbled with a red face, huffing tiredly. "Yeah, right."

 _"You can never rush progress. Be level-headed and steady."_

As the hero's words echoed in her head, she closed her eyes. _Take it slow..._ She went into meditation mode. To really focus on her breathing, she had to concentrate completely. _I'll work my way up. Breathe..._

* * *

 _"Breathe, Tenko-kun, breathe."_

 _"...H-Hic… Sniff… Sniff…_ _"_

 _Two-and-a-half year old Shiragiku watched with sadness as the boy before her was crouched on the ground outside and choking out cries. An old woman in a kimono was sitting on the wooden platform besides the boy and patting his back. There was a broken hero figurine on the ground._

 _"I'm sorry, Tenko-kun," the old woman sighed. "I didn't think he would react so badly to this... I'll get you a new one, okay? We'll hide it from him next time."_

 _"...Hic... B-But..."_

 _Shiragiku came up to the boy clumsily, tugging at his shirt with a big pout, "No cry."_

 _"See, even Shiragiku-chan is here to encourage you," old woman smiled kindly. "Here, you two stay. I'll go in and bring out your favorite snack, okay?"_

 _As the woman left, Shiragiku went to pick up the figurine. Its arm was crushed and both legs were snapped off. Still, she held it carefully and held it out to the crying boy, "Play?"_

 _The boy was using his sleeves to wipe away the tears and didn't look at her._

 _"Hero! Play?" she asked again._

 _Angry ruby eyes glared at her, "C-Can't you see it's broken?!" he muttered and hit the broken figurine out of the girl's hands. "Go a-away!"_

 _Upset that the boy yelled at her and slapped the toy that she tried to return to him away, tears welled up in her own eyes. She just wanted to help; it was saddening whenever the boy cried and she wanted to help! She sniffed as she looked at the dejected toy. It was really broken..._

 _Maybe if she found one that wasn't broken, then the boy wouldn't slap it away anymore._ _Determined, she decided that it was just what she was going to do._

 _"I-I be back!" she promised before running back into the house. Her small footsteps pattered across the wooden floor and trailed off._

[]

 _Meanwhile, Tenko's eyes glared at the toy by his feet._

 _Why did his father hate heroes so much? **Why?**_

 _He picked it up by the toy's crushed arm and squeezed, watching it slowly crack and turn to dust. In the past two years, after the death of his mother, he finally manifested a Quirk. He found that he could_ _disintegration small items very slowly if he tried hard enough. It was very weak and nothing_ _significant so he kept it to himself, but it wasn't like his father would care if he had told him._ _After his mother's death, his father was even colder towards him._

 _He thought about hating his little sister for taking away his mother, but the situation at home was not much different either way. M_ _ostly t_ _heir grandmother took cared of the two children when his father was away at work, and she was kind like Mother._ _Besides, even Shiragiku barely got the man's attention... But he was still kinder to the girl because she really resembled their mother._

 _Tenko was usually the only one on the receiving end of his father's verbal abuse._

 _There was a small spark of doubt in his heart because of this. What was so wrong with heroes that caused this type of rift between him and his father?_

 _If he can only understand why his father hated them so much..._

* * *

Shiro opened her eyes with a gasp. Diving deep into the void of concentration had inadvertantly drew up some memories that she thought was gone after losing her memories at age four.

 _It's that boy again... Who is he?_ she wondered. From just the physical description of him—lanky, dark hair, and ruby eyes—she couldn't say much about the identity. Many people have the same traits and they can change with age. But one thing was for certain; she was close to the boy. At least _somewhat_.

This Tenko boy, throughout the snippets of memories, was always frail and scared. She felt incredibly bad for him. But this most recent memory was different from the one before at the orphanage. She was at a house with a nice old woman, and the woman seemed to dote on them both. It almost seemed like they were... _Family?_

But it couldn't be... She was found in an orphanage!

Yet... Her emotions would stir whenever he appeared in his memories and she could feel a connection with the strange boy...

Shiro grabbed her head and shook vigoriously. "I don't know what any of this means..." she grumbled. _Stop thinking about it. Focus on your internship. You've got enough problems as it is!_

Ruby eyes glared at the offending balloon before she pursed her lips. The clock on the wall signalled that she's been meditating for an hour and she should test out her progress now. Breathing in deeply, she found that her lungs were opening up more, if only slightly.

"Take two," she put the balloon up to her lips and blew into it with all her might. _Concentrate...!_ The balloon expanded and she held on longer. Though, she wasn't sure if the balloon got any bigger as she reached her limit. Her entire body shook before she was forced to let go and the balloon shot out from her fingers' grip and flew across the room in a figure-eight before splatting on the floor.

Shiro let out a deep sigh but stood to retreive the balloon.

 _...Again!_

* * *

"How did it go?"

Gang Orca's question didn't receive a verbal answer, but from the looks of Shiro's frustrated red face and a very intact balloon, he could tell that it hadn't gone so well for the girl. He never expected her to be able to pop the balloon on the first day in just three hours, anyway.

"I think I herniated my diaphram…" Shiro grumbled as the hero laughed.

"That's just warm-up. We will move on to the second portion," he said. "Follow me to the pool room. This is where the real endurance test starts."

They walked down one of the long hallways of the agency and stopped at a different pool room than the private one that Gang Orca uses. This one was even bigger and quipped for hero training. It seemed that the hero had the area set up specifically for her water trainings for the rest of the week.

"Water is 784 times denser than air, so doing anything underwater forces you to exert more energy on your entire body. It's the best way to condition your body for endurance and strength," Gang Orca explained. He pointed to the shallow end of the pool, "On this side you will be putting on 5-pound ankle and arm weights to jog laps around the shallow end."

 _Jog? Can people even do that underwater?_ Shiro blinked.

"In the deep end, you will forego diving exercises where you will continuously retrieve a 10-pound bricks that these guys throw down," he said as five people wearing black bodysuits and white shin and shoulder guards came out. "Since this is a conditioning training, you will refrain from using your Quirk."

Shiro peered at the glistening water with a curious gaze. She had expected this; using her reality rewrite to lower the density of the water would make this whole process easier, but that wouldn't be much training in the first place. The hero did say he wanted to draw something from her out of the water training; she just wondered how this was going to come into play with her Quirk.

"If I may ask," Shiro decided to voice her question before she got started. "Will this actually draw out my Quirk's abilities?"

Gang Orca grinned. "Slow and steady. You'll see."

And she _tried_ —later that day when the third portion of the hero's training regime came around.

Shiro stood agape as her ruby eyes tried to take in the sight before her. As tired as she was from the repetitive water training, this woke her right up. The portions of the floor that wasn't covered in waist-deep water was littered with all types of equipment. She really shouldn't be surprised to know that the hero had an entire area dedicated to spinning, hanging, and flying obstacles from hell.

"Now you'll be training with your Quirk," Gang Orca instructed with his arms crossed, looking mighty proud. "Keep it activated the entire time and let it guide you through the obstacles."

It sounded easy enough to Shiro—too easy, in fact, that she wondered how that could possibly help. She was instructed to use her Quirk as she would normally do. It wasn't like she didn't have control of her Quirk like Midoriya and needed that kind of training, but...

"Everything will start moving in a second. I will see you on the other side," the hero prepared to move just as the machines started up. He was going through the obstacles himself, it seemed, and Shiro was excited to see the man in action. "That is, if you make it through."

"What—" Shiro's brows furrowed at the suggestion but she didn't have time to further think about it as the hero dashed off. He was fast and effortlessly completed the first barrier, which was moving pads leading towards swinging logs from all directions. It was intimidating to look at, but she found that it was not that much different from the obstacle course back in the sports festival. She soon lost sight of the hero but she had no doubt that he was probably already on the other side like he said he would. Not wanting to be left behind, she let out a determined grunt and followed suit while activating her Quirk.

She hopped across the pads with relative ease and arrived at the swinging bars. Two of them swung in tandem at each other and the other two did the same but in the opposite way. Her right eye spun as she timed for the perfect opening and jumped through both. Landing on her feet, she took off further into the spinning machines to clear another section without too much of a problem. She couldn't tell how far she was in the obstacle now, but she didn't get her hopes up on thinking that she was anywhere near done.

Why else would the hero call it the "Infinity Obstacle Course"?

Suddenly, a low whir caught her attention and she looked around cautiously; when nothing came at her she realized that it was coming from below and she had to quickly catch her balance as the giant disk beneath her feet started to spin.

Eyes narrowing at the forest-like mass of pillars, she knew the only way was going through it. Jumping off the disk, she landed and rolled over but something was triggered as soon as she reached the pillars. They started to move—not all of them in the same direction or motion. Some retreated into the ground as some bent and swung. Others shot back up and still some had the ability to close into each other.

Taking a deep breath in, her ruby eyes spun wildly and she ducked into it.

Shiro couldn't see anything except the constant assult of obstacles at her as she dodged and moved her body almost rhythmically. _I can somehow keep up..._ she thought before realization hit her. It was still very slight, but because of the breathing exercise and water training that she went through all morning and afternoon, she was able to move her body easier than before. Moving around in a denser enviroment _plus_ added weights had forced her to use more strength to achieve the same level of speed that she had on land, and she could feel how her limbs were slightly lighter than before as she moved them. It was _easier_ to move, if just barely.

 _Getting all pruney was worth it I guess,_ she smirked as she leaped over a bar that was coming at her. But just as she was about to move again, she was pelted with a shot of what felt like rapidly drying clay. Staggering back slightly, she glared at the cannons that suddenly appeared on every single pillar.

 _Zip! Splat!_

 _Zip! Zip!_

 _Splat!_

Every step she tried to take, the cannons were fast and hit at absolute precision. She had barely moved five feet and her body was caked with the drying clay. Huffing out large breaths, Shiro scanned around for any openings but found none. She had to get through this warzone without getting hit again; it was hard to stay balanced on the floating terrain while dodging shots.

What did the Gang Orca say? Let her Quirk guide her through?

 _But how?_ _My eyes can't even keep up with which cannon is shooting, which makes it harder to avoid it because I can't target my probability manipulation at it...!_

 _Zip!_

 _Splat!_

She winced as another clay ball shot out and hit her in the leg. The only way can save herself from being hit again is if she _retreated_. She was stuck. _Completely_.

 _How do I get through this obstacle...?!_

* * *

 **OTL poor bby even I feel bad for making her suffer this much lol**

 **Now that the Stain battle is out of the picture, I can focus back on Shiro's hardships at her internship... Which is causing some repressed memories to surface! ;O Along with Shigaraki's bits of flashbacks, it's gonna slowly paint the picture of their childhood~**


	25. Family

**_**SPOILER alert:_** _Attention! This entire chapter is a past event, and part of it is similar to **chapters 235-236 in the manga** about what happened to Shigaraki's family. I added my own twist to it, but the major event that happened in the manga still happens here. Read at your own discretion._

 **Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _family_

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.

.

 _Shiragiku was looking around the big house with curiosity. Being two-and-a-half, everything held a sense of wonder and she loved to get her hands on anything. But right now, she had a mission in mind. She was going to find something to cheer up her brother so he won't cry anymore. Her stubby legs walked clumsily around the hallway that led to a wooden door. It was the door she recognized as her father's office, and it was slightly ajar. The man must've left in a hast this morning after scolding Tenko and forgot to close it. This was going to be the first time Shiragiku will get to see what the inside looked like!_

 _Pushing open the heavy door, she was so excited that she fell over with a soft thud. Not deterred however, she got back up and let her eyes trail around the large room. Everything was bigger than her, from the big wooden desk to the black swivel chair. There were a few things strewn on the ground, mainly books and crumbled pieces of paper and she looked at each of them curiously. Unfortunately, she found that none of it would be sufficient to cheer up the crying boy._

 _Her brother liked heroes, and there was nothing resembling of that around here!_

 _With a small, childish huff, she crawled out from under the large desk. But as she tried to stand by gripping onto the swivel chair, the wheels on the chair slid back and she went along with it._

 ** _Crash!_**

 _As Shiragiku fell to the ground, the chair hit the shelf on the wall and caused a small book that was carelessly placed on the edge of the shelf to fall onto the ground next to the girl. Shiragiku sniffed back a tear as the photo that was sticking out of the fallen book caught her attention._

 _The photo itself was old, but the people on it was still visible. There was a strong-looking lady in there that had a very nice smile and black hair. She was holding a small boy lovingly and the boy was grinning back at her; they looked alike. But what struck the girl the most was what the lady was wearing._

 _A hero suit!_

 _The lady in the picture was obviously a hero!_

 _If she showed this to Tenko, then the boy will be happy again, right? It wasn't a hero figurine but with her childish reasoning, a picture of a hero was basically the same thing as a hero figurine._

 _"Ara Shiragiku-chan, what are you doing in there?" The grandmother was surprised when she saw Shimura Kotarou's office door wide open and had come in to look and saw a surprise. The little girl peered up with a toothy smile and the old lady's heart melted. Shiragiku was really too much like her late daughter. "What do you have in your hands?"_

 _"Hero!" the girl replied with a happy smile, waving the photo around._

 _The grandmother looked at the picture and let out a small noise. **That's Kotarou when he was younger…** _

_She remembered that her late daughter told her about her husband's situation and the reason why he was so against heroes. Anyone would hold a little resentment if their parent had decided to give them away in order to focus on being a Pro Hero, she supposed. It was the reason why she never says anything when Kotarou lashes out on Tenko for being so fascinated with heroes; she can only pick up the pieces and console the poor boy after._

 _"Are you interested in heroes, too?" she wondered with a small frown. It would be bad if Kotarou started to lash out on the girl as well, after she could articulate more words and start to show her interest more obviously._

 _"For nii-san!"_

 _Her response made the old lady pet her on the head warmly. "Ah, Shiragiku-chan really loves her brother, doesn't she?" she asked, and the little girl nodded. With a small chuckle, the woman kneeled and got the girl to sit on her lap as she told her a little about the photo since the girl was so excited._

 _"This is your father, see? He must be around Tenko-kun's age in here. That lady is your other grandmother on your father's side, and yes, she is a hero. Due to certain circumstances though, she had to leave the family. That's the reason why your father doesn't like Tenko-kun talking about heroes," she explained slowly and watched Shiragiku for any semblance of understanding. The little girl was staring intently at the photo and she sighed. "Shiragiku-chan, this is a secret between us, okay? Don't speak of this to your father… You know how he doesn't like to talk about heroes, and he won't be happy if you went around spouting that your other grandmother was one. Do you understand?"_

 _However, hearing that only confirmed Shiragiku's excitement. All her little brain could register was father and grandmother and most importantly, hero. This was all she needed to cheer up Tenko, she knew of it! "I no tell daddy," she promised but snatched the photo out of the old lady's hand. "But I go show nii-san!"_

 _"S-Shiragiku-chan? You really shouldn't take this photo—"_

 _But it was too late. The little girl was already clambering down the hall with the photo in hand to show her brother of her find. The old lady sighed and got up. Perhaps it will be fine if Shiragiku only showed it to Tenko for a little while… Then she will return it back into Kotarou's office before the man comes back._

[]

 _"Nii-san! Nii-san!"_

 _Tenko had ceased his crying, but he was hanging out in the yard by himself still. Next to his crouched form was a pile of dust and he had his face in his arms. He was tired._

 _"I told you to go away, Shiragiku…" his grumble was muffled by his crossed arms. But Shiragiku was relentless and kept tapping the boy on the shoulder._

 _"Nii-san, I found hero!"_

 _That made Tenko raise his head. The underside of his eyes was rubbed raw and there was dry tear-streaks on his face, but his eyes were blinking in surprise when he saw the photo in the little girl's hands. It was a picture of a young boy and a hero. "W-What is this…?"_

 _"Hero grandma," Shiragiku pointed at the beautiful smiling lady with a proud look. Then her finger shifted to the boy, "Daddy!"_

 _Tired ruby eyes widened. That boy in picture was his father…? He couldn't deny it because there were some resemblances to himself. While Shiragiku was a copy of his mother, Tenko inherited some traits from his father and the lady in the picture had the same mole as Tenko on her lower chin. It was undeniable, but it was almost unbelievable… His father who **hated** heroes… Was the son of a hero? _

_"Our grandmother was a hero…!" he clutched the photo with shaky hands and looked at Shiragiku. "Where did you…?"_

 _The girl giggled when she saw that her brother was so surprised. That means she did well, right? "Grandma say itsa secret," she put a tiny finger up by her mouth. "Shhhh secret! Other grandma is a hero."_

 _"But why are you showing me this?" Tenko wondered. His mind was a mush; he couldn't believe what he was seeing… Or what he was currently feeling. He felt a small hand hold onto his rough and dry fingers and his eyes trailed down to the smiling face of his little sister._

 _"Because nii-san wants to be a hero."_

 _Even though she was very young and her brain can't comprehend complex things yet, she was able to understand that the boy admired heroes. Perhaps it was because he thought that heroes can save everyone; or maybe he just thought they were cool. Either way, he was surprised that she could see it. He hadn't felt that kind of warmth from anyone except his mother when she was still alive._

 _Tenko's lips quivered slightly and a smile of his own finally appeared on his face. His little sister snuggled closer to him._

 ** _Maybe one day… We can be a brother and sister duo…_**

[]

 _"Tenko-kun, Shiragiku-chan! Come back inside, I have snacks."_

 _The two children didn't move from their spot by the garden; more like Tenko couldn't move because Shiragiku had fallen asleep leaning against his arm. It had been a long day for the both of them._

 _"Tenko-kun?" Grandmother called out to the two kids who were out in the yard. She then saw that the little one was asleep and carefully picked her up. "Ah, I'll put Shiragiku-chan to bed. You come in too, okay?"_

 _The dark-haired boy nodded and stood up; the photo flitted down to the ground and he picked it back up and smiled at it. Things were starting to look up for him now. Even though his father hated heroes, he now knew there was a connection for him and heroes. He'll keep it a secret for now so that he wouldn't get in trouble… But still, he was happy. There was a **hero** in his family! _

_Carefully, he tucked the photo in his shorts pocket and ran inside the house. Maybe tomorrow he and Shiragiku can go to the park with their grandparents and they can play hero-saves-the-civilian…_

 _When his father came home early a few hours later, Tenko was sitting in the living room with his grandmother and grandfather. The news station was on and there was a special report about a violent attack in another city, but the country's Symbol of Peace, All Might, was there to defeat the villain with his mind-blowing strength and ever-present smile._

 _He wondered if he'll ever get to meet a hero like All Might one day._

 _"So cool…"_

 _"What did I say about watching that crap?!" Kotarou scowled as soon as he walked into the room and saw that his son was marveling at a hero on the screen. He immediately shut off the television and glared at the boy. "Haven't you learned your lesson?"_

 _"Kotarou-san…" Grandmother started, but she didn't do anything._

 _The man only continued to glare down at the scared boy. "Any talk of heroes is forbidden, that's the rule in our family. Stop your silly little daydreams," he said while giving Tenko a look of disgust before turning around._

 ** _Why…_**

 _Something within Tenko's body snapped. He couldn't keep quiet about it after all, not when he knew he had a grandmother who was a hero. His father looked happy in that photo too, so would he set such an unreasonable rule upon this family?_

 _"W-Why?!" he called out with a shaky breath, making the man stop on his tracks and the two grandparents gasp slightly at his bold defiance. The boy's body shook as he stood, and the old photo fell out of his shorts._

 _"Where…"_ _Kotarou's eyes saw red. "Where did you get that?!"_

 _Tenko could feel fear travel down every inch of his skin but he was angry, too. He was angry and tired. Why couldn't his father see that?!_

 _"T-Tenko-kun, apologize to your father now," Grandmother said as heavy feeling weighed on her; she completely forgot to take away the photo after getting Shiragiku to bed. If the boy told the man where he got the photo from, little Shiragiku may not be safe from his wrath, either! "Let's not make a big fuss..."_

 ** _Why isn't grandmother on my side?_** _Tenko's ruby eyes narrowed. Now that he thought about it, his grandmother and grandfather was never on his side when his father was letting out his anger on him. They only stood and watched and came afterwards to console him. But what he needed… What he needed was someone to stand up for him!_

 _"I asked you where you got that, Tenko!"_

 _"My o-other grandmother w-was a hero, wasn't she?!" Tenko blurted out. "So why can't I like heroes?!"_

 ** _SLAP!_**

 _The terrible sound resonated across the entire house before everything fell silent. Tenko could feel a stinging pain on his cheek; his head snapped to the side with his eyes brimming with tears and disbelief._

 _"That person was not your grandmother," Kotarou's eyes was hard without regret. He went to grab the photo but Tenko threw his body on top of it to save it. Enraged, the man raised his hand again,_ _"It was that demon who threw away her own child…"_

 ** _He's going to hit me again—_**

 _"Listen up. A hero is nothing but someone who hurts their own family for the sake of helping others."_

 ** _Someone, do something…_**

 _"Please…" Tenko whimpered with tears flowing down his eyes. "I d-don't understand…! Grandmother—"_

 ** _SLAP!_**

 _"Never speak of her or other heroes again, you hear me?!"_

 ** _It hurts._**

 ** _It hurts._**

 ** _It HURTS._**

 _There was a terrible itching feeling within Tenko and his hands reached out to the man who was walking out with the crumbled photo. It wasn't just his cheeks that hurt, his felt his entire body was on fire. Something was happening to him and he was itching to get rid of it._

 _"Tenko-kun…"_

 _Grandmother and Grandfather looked apologetic as they came over to the crying boy. Their hands laid on his small, shaking shoulders and caused him to turn to look at them with eyes filled with wild mistrust._

 ** _They stood and watched. They've_** **always _just stood and watched._**

 _"Let's go upstairs and I'll read you a story, okay?" the old man tried to console with a guilty expression. "Don't cry anymore."_

 ** _Why is it that they only ever tell me to stop crying…?_**

 _"We are still a happy family, right?"_

 ** _I can't take it anymore._**

 _"Tenko-kun?"_

 _"I…" his wet ruby eyes glazed over with anger as his hands grabbed onto both of his grandparents' arms. "I hate you!"_

 _The old couple barely mustered a scream as their bodies fell apart into pieces. Bile immediately rose up into Tenko's throat as he looked at what happened in horror; they simply disintegrated into a pile of blood and ash. All he meant to do was to throw his grandparents' hands off him…_

 _Was there a villain attack?_

 _...Or did he do this?_

 _"N-No…"_

 _He couldn't breathe. It was like something was grabbing his throat and he couldn't let any air in. His head was pounding, and his skin was burning with that itch that won't go away._

 _"I didn't mean to… I didn't…"_

 _He tried to grab onto the table to steady himself only for the wood to crack and crumble under his palms. The tears ran down his face even more as realization hit him. It **was** him. **He** did this. He killed—_

 _A foot stepped into the living room and a gasp was heard. Kotarou's face was etched with horror as he looked at the distraught and crying boy hovering over a pile of blood and ash. "What—?!"_

 _"F…Fa-Father…!" Tenko scratched at his itchy skin in agony as he stumbled forward. He was destroying everything he touched. "I-I'm s-so sorry…!"_

 _Scared, his father grabbed the broom that was nearby and swung at the boy who was trying to reach him with those murderous hands. "Stop it, Tenko! You… You monster!"_

 ** _Monster…?_**

 _Tenko felt his heart clench painfully as he cried out. The itch was intensifying, and his father was right. He needed to **stop** it. With full intent to kill, he charged at his father and touched him in the face as the man came crashing down. _

_"Die! Die! Die…!"_

 _"T-Ten…Ko."_

 _That was the last word his father ever said before he crumbled into a pile of blood and ash, just like his grandparents. The boy heaved and cried, but interestingly, he found that he was no longer itching as it had been satisfied. Somehow, it felt **good** …_

 _But he looked at his two hands and his body started to shake again. The Quirk that he had managed to manifest, the Quirk that wasn't so strong until he was filled with blind rage—it had destroyed his entire family._

 _"...Nii-san…?"_

 _A small voice called out and Tenko whipped his head towards the staircase where Shiragiku was descending with sleep still in her ruby eyes. She was going to see what he had done; the person who was as warm as his mother was going to see this and run away from him, too._

 _"Nii-san is sad? Why?" she whispered before her eyes landed on the destruction behind him. She clutched at her shirt for a moment with terror. "B-Blood…"_

 _Tenko's chest started to clench again and he found himself reaching for the girl, "I-I…" To his surprise, Shiragiku didn't run away. Instead, she ran towards him and with her small arms she wrapped it around the boy tightly._

 _"S-Scary!" she cried into his shirt for comfort. She didn't know what had happened; but even if she did, she loved her big brother and she was going to hold onto him for dear life._ _Her warmth made Tenko calm and he stopped his heavy breathing. His hands fell back down to his sides and he cried with the girl in the middle of the empty hall, not looking back at what's left of the destroyed and blood-stained living room._

 _"Nii-san, n-no more family?" Shiragiku hiccuped._

 _Their whole family was gone and they only have each other to depend on. What can they do? They were nothing but orphans now._

 _"Shiragiku, let's run away… A hero will come save us…"_

* * *

 **Note: this is not told directly from Shiro's perspective. She still hasn't remembered this part yet. Also, this is far from the end of the sibling's origin... More to come later. Please leave a review! :)**

 **Side note: my obsession with Tanjirou's Dance of the Fire God theme song in epi 19 of Demon Slayer is unreal...**


	26. Effort and Progress

**Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _effort and progress_

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.

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During the remainder of the time with Gang Orca and going through his rigorous training regime, Shiro had started to record her progress at the end of the day. It kept her on her toes and served as a reminder of her struggles so that she can push herself more the following day. Sometimes, though, it only made her sigh and rub her bruised body with frustration.

 _Day 4—_

Breathing exercise: _My lungs feel lighter, but the balloon did not pop._

Water training: _Gang Orca's lackeys are relentless. Every time I think I've improved on my speed they go even faster._

Infinite obstacle course: _I couldn't get past the stupid clay machines. Apparently that is only halfway to the end. Note - don't get hit in the face next time. The clay is extremely irksome to get out of hair._

Bell test: _I was thrown across the training room when I attempted to sneak up on Gang Orca. Did not get bell._

 _Day 5—_

Breathing exercise: _I blew the balloon even bigger towards the end of the session. Why hasn't it popped yet? Gang Orca came by and saw my progress, but he did not say anything. I can't tell if that's a good or a bad thing because he just looks scary._

Water training: _Do the lackeys ever get tired of throwing those bricks? My arms are so sore but I think I'm gaining more muscle from the training._

Infinite obstacle course: _I'm faster. I tried to keep my Probability Manipulation on the entire time and concentrated more. I felt more in-tuned with my surroundings and was able to dodge more effectively towards the end. I still couldn't pass._

Bell test: _We went on night patrol and a kid was crying because his cat was missing. We found the cat but Gang Orca made him cry harder on accident because of his appearance. Kids are scared of him and that seems to make him sad. I forgot about the bell test._

 _Day 6—_

Shiro was nervous because there was just one more day after today before the end of the internship. The breathing exercise and water training was going well for her and left her in a state of unrest when she got around to the obstacle course. She was practically itching to get past it today because she felt more ready than ever.

Gang Orca regarded her with a firm expression as she walked into the obstacle arena. The hero could feel that her aura was slightly different today. "Are you ready?"

"I am," she replied and clenched a fist. The water training had made her faster than before her and body still feels light. Her Quirk was already activated and her left eye was spinning wildly. "I'm going to get through this today."

The hero nodded with a slight grin and the machines whirred up. He was going to watch her performance from higher ground and the girl dashed off once the signal sounded. Shiro's breath was even and her eyes were completely focused. She had long mastered the obstacles before the clay machines and it took her no time to reach the area where the many pillars stood imposingly.

She ducked inside without hesitation and let her Quirk guide her. Her endurance was so much higher thanks to the previous two exercises and her senses were sharper, too, because she became so cautious of the irregular shots that the clay machines made.

 _Zip!_

 _Splat!_

 _Zip!_

The first dozen that came whizzing by were expertly dodged by her and she continued on her path. She learned to widened her field of vision rather than darting her sight around too much. She had felt it last time—her Quirk was getting accustomed to it and in a last burst effort before time was up she had managed to pinpoint three of the clay shots _exactly_ before it even came out of the barrel. She needed to focus and recreate that.

 _Zip! Splat!_

Gang Orca watched intently as the girl continued to dodge the machines. He was impressed that she has not gotten hit yet but she was still struggling to get through the part since the machines was built to maintain and push people back from the exit. The clay pillars served two main purposes for the girl's training: to test her endurance that she's built up from the previous exercises and to push her Quirk to an untouched domain.

 _It should be time now,_ he thought as the machines sped up.

Shiro kept the wide scope of vision around her and forced her Quirk to maximize the probability potential as the clay shots quickened their pace. _I will not be hit by this today...!_ she gritted and the area around her glowed. Suddenly, she was able to see a zone around her everything within that zone had a probability score above them. Since she activated her left eye, she found that she could control and dodge all of the incoming harm before it even happened.

"Probability Manipulation..." she concentrated and charged through. _"Absolute Zone!"_

She jumped, rolled, and leaped with incredible speed and agility through the clay machines with the allotted time before her zone lost effectiveness. She could only control it for about 30 seconds.

Each clay shot that whizzed by didn't faze her at all because it was a guaranteed miss as she focused on only one thing: the exit to the next stage.

 _Zip!_

 _Splat!_

 _Zip—!_

Shiro leaped across the barrier just before her Quirk deactivated, and the momentum caused her to drop and roll on the ground. A sharp breath left her lips when she looked up and saw nothing—no pillars, no clay machines.

 _I..._ her heartbeat quickened at the realization that she passed and in learning a new ability with her Quirk. _I did it!_

There was no time for celebration as she still had the latter half of the obstacle to go. However, the clay machines was arguably the hardest section there was. _Concentrate, Shiro. The rest will be easy...!_

Meanwhile, Gang Orca cracked a smile as he watched on.

* * *

Across the cities, everyone else was having their own hardships and moments of revelations with their internships.

Bakugou was on patrol with Best Jeanist, though it was more like hero work than getting his hair done back at the agency, he wished he was anywhere but here. The No. 4 hero was popular with the citizens and he would stop and wave or give short conversation to those who walked up. To Bakugou, it felt completely useless and stupid.

He wanted to fight _villains_ , not chit-chat!

"Oh, I've seen him on TV before!" a kid pointed at the blonde as his two frineds blinked up at him with blank stares. Bakugou couldn't help the irritated sigh that left his lips.

 _The sports festival again?_

"He was caught by a villain and looked like he was about to cry, right?"

"What did you say?!" he turned around and gave the three snickering kids a menacing glare, causing them to look as if they just pissed their pants with tears in their eyes.

"Did you already forget what I taught you?" Best Jeanist said from behind with a calm voice. "Deal with them properly."

Bakugou stopped his urge to pummel the crying kids to the ground and gritted his teeth. "Fine!" he huffed and walked up to the kids with a lighter scowl.

"I wasn't caught by the villain back then. I was thinking about how to defeat him," he explained while the three boys still looked scared of him. "It wasn't that I'd lost. I'm the man who'll become the number one hero! So there's no reason for kids like you to worry about me—!"

"WAAAAAAHHHH!"

Best Jeanist sighed and shook his head. _He's too proud. It's fine for those strong feelings to be aimed at becoming a hero, but if that's no longer the case... Now, what shall I do with you?_

* * *

At Gunhead's agency, Uraraka was learning critical skills to defend against an opponent with a knife. Though Gunhead looked menacing at first because of his large form and mask concealing his face, he was actually very gentle and cute.

"Uravity-chan, can you try attacking me?" he asked while the girl gripped onto the knife.

"Are you sure?"

"You don't have to hold back."

Uraraka nodded and charged with determination in her large brown eyes. She swung her arm out and tried to slash the Pro Hero, but she was unable to reach him as he took skillful steps back and caused her to lose balance.

"If your opponent attacks directly, use one leg as an axis to turn and dodge, then grab their wrist and neck at the same time," he explained with enthusiasm as he pinned the girl on the ground. "If you can twist their wrist to make them drop the knife and kick it far away, it'll be even more perfect!"

Uraraka stood back up while holding the wrist that got twisted. _He moved so smoothly and without hesitation. Gunhead's martial arts... So amazing!_ she watched as the hero pranced over to pick up the knife again. _Even though he acts cute..._

"This time, I'll hold the knife, 'kay?" he said enthusiastically. "We'll keep repeating this until you can do it!"

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

At the Pro Hero Uwabami's fan-signing event in a neighboring city, Momo and Kendou watched helplessly as the beautiful hero greeted fans. All week, the two female UA students have been doing nothing but trailing the hero while she did her star work rather than actual hero work. Uwabami even got them to appear on a promotional commerical!

Momo was trying to keep a bright outlook towards everything and convinced herself that there was merit and valuable things to learn in everything, but...

"When you work diligently like this, you can eventually make big blossoms bloom," Uwabami said among the yells of fans. "It's like when an _enka_ singer goes on provincial tours."

"Doesn't 'work diligently'..." Momo trailed off with confusion.

"...mean something different?" Kendou finished with an equally exasperated and confused look.

* * *

With Pro Hero Fourth Kind, Kirishima and Tetsutetsu was getting hands-on with community work by cleaning up trash at a local children's playground.

"Contributing to the community is also an essential part of being a hero," Fourth Kind taught sternly. "Don't drag your feet doing it! Do you understand?"

"Yes, Fourth Kind-san..."

"I can't hear you!"

"Yes, Fourth Kind-san!" Kirishima and Tetsutetsu shouted louder.

* * *

Jiro was following Death Arms and his sidekick to a bank where real villains where keeping people hostage. It was a heart-pounding first experience that was incredibly valuable as a student. For the hero to trust her to lead the way was an honor and she used her Quirk to locate how many people were in the room and what location.

"I can hear two hostages," she reported.

"All right, we're breaking in," Death Arms nodded and beckoned for his sidekick to follow. "Earphone Jack, please tell the escaping hostages what to do."

"R-Right!"

"Let's go!"

As the heroes broke into the room to apprehend the villains, the hostages was able to break free and run out. Jiro stood and instructed for them to follow her to safety. "I will escort you! Come below with me!"

"We're saved!"

"Thank you, hero!"

* * *

In a different port city, Tsuyu was interning under the Sea Rescue Hero: Selkie. She was undergoing regular training and tasked with cleaning up the deck of the ship with the hero's sidekick, Sirius. It was boring work, but the girl didn't complain about the experience no matter how small or mundane it was.

Little did she know, she will soon encounter a stowaway ship that will bring some danger and excitement into her time here and learn a very valuable lesson of the importance of being a hero.

* * *

"So... Close!"

Shiro hit the ground with a fist. She triumphed over the infinite obstacle today, but she couldn't say the same for the blasted bell test. Granted, she was exhausted from the day's training and finally making it through the entire obstacle, but she was still frustrated that she couldn't reach the bell.

 _I only have one more day... Even if I do everything else right, if I don't get the bell..._

 _"You will fail this internship."_

She furrowed her brows with determination and she looked up at the hero. His expression wasn't jeering in any way, but it the shiny bell that hung on his belt was nonetheless taunting for her.

"We'll continue this tomorrow," Gang Orca said as he walked away. Even though he didn't express it outright to Shiro, he was happy and proud internally for the girl for coming so far. She really took her training seriously and tirelessly. Even upon numerous failures, she only got back up and tried again. The Erasure Hero really taught her to never give up. "It will be your last day tomorrow. Rest up and think of what you need to do to complete this final test."

"Yes, sir," she nodded with clenched fists.

Upon returning to the room she was given to rest, she took a long shower and mulled over everything that has happened. She closed her tired eyes and allowed the hot water to hit her skin. She knew that she was doing everything that she could against the No. 10 hero, but of course it would take more than a week's worth of hard training to compare against him.

 _What is he **really** looking for in this test?_ she wondered with frustration before turning off the water. Drying herself off, she wrapped up her wet silver-blue hair with a towel and reached into her suitcase to pull out a night shirt and sweatpants almost mechanically. She was so tired after finally completing the obstacle course today and manifesting a new ability to her Quirk, and her body felt heavy with exhaustion. She pulled the shirt over her head and went to brush her teeth in front of the mirror.

 _Blink._

 _Blink._

Her ruby eyes widened with surprise mid-brushing at the skull design on the black shirt that she _thought_ was hers. In her exhaustion, she hadn't realized that the shirt she stuffed into the corner of her suitcase did not belong to her, but to a certain explosive blonde. _Shoot. I should change._

But her eyes drooped with sleepiness and she sighed, ultimately deciding against it. The material of the cloth was extremely soft and it wasn't like there was anyone here to judge her.

 _I'll just wash it before returning it to him later..._ she thought as she face-planted into the bed and was immediately pulled into sleep. That night, she dreamed of the dark haired boy with ruby eyes again.

* * *

Shigaraki stared at himself through the dirty mirror in the bathroom. He had been stewing in his anger since Stain's capture because it catapulted a movement of inspiration within underground villains. He hated that the man was able to be so influencial even if he was able to use that notoriety to the League of Villain's benefit.

Stain was just a sore subject because he had wronged Shigaraki. However people have wronged him, he wanted to pay them back _double_.

But right now, it was time for the villains to gather and plan. No matter who started it, his organization will reap the benefits in the end. Everything he was doing was to make his master proud; the man gave him everything when he had nothing in the past.

Shigaraki hated his past, but he couldn't help but obsess over it. The more he had time to think about it and the more he encountered the probability manipulating girl, the more he angered and became upset.

Why did _she_ get everything and he didn't? Weren't they suppose to be in this together?

Didn't she _love_ her brother?

He gritted his teeth and scowled with chapped lips. His ruby eyes, the same ones that Shiro possessed, stared back at him through the mirror almost tauntingly. But then he noticed his hair. Black roots were peeking out from the mess of silvery-blue, and he slammed his fist on the sink with panicked anger.

 _No, no, no, no no no no...!_

"KUROGIRI!" he shouted, demanding for the man to come and fix this _disgusting_ sight as he thrashed around the bathroom to search for the bottle he was looking for.

"Shigaraki—" Kurogiri was at the door immediately and paused when he saw the young master in a state of hysteria. He understood immediately and calmly grabbed the hair bleach from the shelf that was yet untouched. "I got it, please calm down."

Shigaraki's chest heaved as he sat down in front of the mirror with clenched fists. _"Fix this,"_ he spat as his ruby eyes narrowed at the reflection as well as the old picture that was taped on the side.

 _"Nii-san!"_

It used to be a picture of him and Shiro taken back when they were still a _family_ , but now the picture was purposely torn down the middle and just of little Shiro, smiling with her bright ruby eyes and silvery-blue hair that was just like his mother's.

 _Shiragiku..._

* * *

Shiro was more refreshed after she woke up. With eyes of fire and determination, she quickly got dressed and was ready to face Gang Orca once again. She only had until noon to do so and she had a plan.

 _Last day._

 _Bell test._

 _Eight seconds._

 _Can't fail._

Thoughts swirled around her mind but she was focused.

"I see you have your resolve," he remarked with crossed arms when he spotted her after breakfast.

"Yes," she said. When she first met the hero, he had told her that the test was to make her show him her strength, stealth, and intelligence to prove that he made the right choice in selecting her after the U.A. sports festival. There was no guarantee that she can actually defeat the Pro Hero in a one-on-one, but she realized that with all he has taught her in the week, she had many skills to aid her. "I'm prepared for anything. I will get that bell."

"Then come," Gang Orca curled a finger to beckon her to start while he got into an defensive stance. He saw her growth during the week and wasn't foolish enough to not be on guard. "Show me what you've got, Shiro!"

The dial in her right eye spun as Shiro dashed forward, only to disappear in front of the hero's eyes. "Back to your old tricks?" he mused as he kicked behind him to throw her off. In all of her trials, he had never allowed her to sneak up from behind successfully. It was not his weak spot, but she needed to create a diversion. Shiro was ready for his attack and jumped above the hero with her ribbons to bind his leg.

Gang Orca was fast and avoided her attack while carrying out another one, but she was fast as well. Her left eye spun this time and ducked under to stop his flying fist. It was fortunate that the hero was not going to be using his hypersonic technique in the agency because she knew it could incapacitate her immediately. He has given her so many handicaps to maximize on, so she couldn't fail now.

Thanks to the training, her endurance and speed was faster. Tiring him out was out of the question but she could make short bursts that were faster than the hero even if he was faster than her overall.

"You've gotten better. But do you think that's enough to take the bell from me?"

 _You won't know until you try!_ she gritted her teeth and allowed the dial to spin faster so that she could concentrate on bringing out the zone. Their scuffle had drew them towards the edge of the pool and she was prepared to receive any surprises. Gang Orca was the fastest in water so she should do anything to avoid that.

The hero knew what she was planning and he wasn't going to make it easy for her. He was strong on land but in water, he was near invincible. _Time to truly test the limits of your Quirk and skills,_ he smirked and jumped into the pool.

Shiro's ruby eyes narrowed at his action but internally she was plotting with a victorious grin. She was glad that her expression and actions hadn't given away her plan; she wasn't afraid of him going in the water, in fact, she _wanted_ him to do so. She snapped her fingers and dozens of Gang Orca's lackeys came out with familiar training bricks in their hands.

After training with them for some time Shiro had formed a respectable bond with them, and they were willing to help her with this test since they liked her drive and wanted to see that she succeeded.

"I'm counting on you all!" she nodded at them as they followed the plan and launched multiple bricks into the water at an unrelenting pace.

"You got it, Shiro!"

"Go!"

Gang Orca was shocked at the turn of events, but his smile stretched wider underwater and he dodged or blew away any incoming bricks that were thrown his way. He had to give it to his lackeys to be efficient; the attacks weren't ending and it created such a diversion and confusion underwater that was sure to aid Shiro in whatever she was planning.

The constant onslaught of bricks allows Shiro to go almost undetected in the disturbed waters and she counted the seconds in her head before her zone was depleted—it was just under 20 seconds.

 _Perfect_.

Her senses were enhanced as everything around her stilled; Gang Orca was distracted and in the middle of the attacks which allowed her to come up to him from the side at an incredible speed—training for hours in the water for multiple days allowed her to be quick and not hindered by the density of water.

 _Ten..._ _Nine..._

Her eyes zeroed in on the floating silver bell.

 _Eight..._ _Seven..._

Gang Orca sensed her and blew the surrounding bricks at her to push her away.

 _Six..._ _Five..._

The bricks were deflected automatically due to her probability zone and her hand darted out to reach the bell.

 _Four..._ _Three..._

Gang Orca, with incredible reflexes, hit her arm and pushed back. However, he then noticed that both of her eyes were spinning now, which means she activated her Reality Rewrite.

The lackeys surrounding the edge of the pool retreated back with gasps as the water started to swirl and tug like a tornado over the surface of the water. The Pro Hero was in the center of it and it restricted his movements due to the force of the currents. Shiro, on the other hand, was unaffected due to her zone. She grinned at the wide-eyed hero as her finger looped around the string on the bell.

 _Two..._

 _One...!_

However, Gang Orca grinned back.

 _Hypersonic Wave._

The terrible, high wavelength ringing shot through the water at such a high speed and intensity that Shiro swore it felt like literal bullets ripping through her body. She was blown out of the pool and her back hit the wall with a harsh _smash_. Water spurted out of her mouth from the impact as her body became limp. The sensation of pain was infinitely more intense than when she was caught in the hero's hypersonic wave on land.

The hero pulled himself out of the pool and his heavy footsteps seem to boom across the room as he walked up to her. Shiro shakily looked at the clock on the wall and saw that there was just five minutes left until noon, yet she can no longer move a muscle.

 _I lost. Damn it. Damn it!_

A strong hand pulled the girl up and leaned her against the wall as she cannot move at the moment.

"Shiro, your time at this internship is now over. You failed to take the bell from me," Gang Orca's voice barely registered through her mind because of the terrible ringing, but she glanced up at the hero with a look of discontentment and frustration. She was surprised to see him smile gently at her.

"However, it seems that I have failed to keep the bell on my person as well."

Ruby eyes widened when she finally noticed that the the silver bell was no longer hanging on the hero's belt. Rather, it was floating in the now calm water. Just seconds before he blew her out of the water with his ability, she had managed to tug the bell loose from the belt. The impressed look on the hero's face told her that if he had not resorted to using his Quirk, she would've gotten the bell.

"You forced me into a corner. I had to use my strength at 100%," he revealed. "You may not have completed the test fully, but you have passed without a shadow of a doubt."

"S-Seriously...?" Shiro's heart was pounding. The hero nodded.

"I do not regret sending out a request to you. It's a known fact that I rarely participate in the U.A. draft because I am often away on long missions, but it's also because I was not interested. However, you've given me reason to invest in the draft once again. A hero is not just someone willing to fight danger head-on, but someone who can adapt and change even when things don't go a favorable way. You don't give up and you keep trying new methods. I'm very impressed that you even thought of recruiting my lackeys to help; no one has ever done something like this. I value your intelligence and adaptability... And the fiercely passionate drive that you have to give every given task your 100%."

"So that means..."

"You have my stamp of approval, and you didn't fail this internship," he gave her a firm handshake. "If you ever decide to come back, my agency welcomes you with open arms."

"Thank you...!" she bowed her head. Surrounding them, everyone clapped for her achievement and she felt a great surge of happiness bubbling and filling her heart.

 _Day 7—_

 _I did it._

* * *

After some heartfelt farewells and a long train ride back, she finally reached home.

 _I'm home._

"Eraserhead, I'm back—" Shiro was taken aback when white bandages shot out and wrapped around her head and torso, effectively restraining her before her own house. _Wh… What in the world?!_

Eraserhead walked from the shadows, his hair in an even greater disarray than when she last saw him and the stubble on his chin was even worse than usual. "Seven days and not a single word back, huh?" he grumbled. Stopping her struggles, Shiro gave the hero a curious blink.

"What? You told us to focus on our internsh..." she felt a small chortle bubble at the base of her throat when she realized why she was suddenly attacked now. The hero looked like he was tossed into the streets and became homeless for a month because he was worried when she never contacted him? It warmed her heart.

"I'm sorry, Eraserhead… But look, I came out of the internship with Gang Orca alive. He was intense..."

Hearing her apology, the hero released his bandages and stuff his hands in his pants pocket. "He wouldn't live up to his title otherwise," he merely said before walking away. He didn't get far, though, because Shiro's arm wrapped around his torso to give him a hug.

"I missed you too," she replied knowingly.

It truly felt like home. This was _her_ family.

Eraserhead sighed, a week's worth of worry finally leaving his body as they stood there like a father and daughter being reunited. "Good job at your internship kid," he said. "You better have learned something."

"Of course," Shiro grinned as they walked inside the house together. But, there was something that she wanted to talk to the hero about during her internships but made it stay in the back of her mind because training had taken precedent. "Eraserhead… I've been having some flashbacks."

The hero frowned. "What do you mean?"

"It started with a dream... I think I was in my old orphanage," she said with furrowed brows as she tried to recall the details. The boy, why can't she remember who the boy was? "It's just very small bits and pieces, but there was someone… I can't remember but I feel like it's important."

It was the first time that the girl had gotten a resurfacing of her memories since he took her in. This may potentially lead them to find out more about her birth past… Eraserhead paused. Would knowing of it change anything?

Through the years he had forgotten that she was just an orphaned child assigned to him to protect. She was family now, and he was reluctant to change that. But looking at the girl who was deep in thought, trying her hardest to recall a single memory, he supposed he shouldn't be so selfish.

He took a deep breath.

"Shiro," he said with his eyes hard as stone. "Perhaps it's time you talked to All Might."

"All Might...?" Shiro echoed with confusion.

* * *

 **WOOHOO! New ability unlocked!**

 ** _Absolute Zone:_ marks a zone around Shiro in which she has absolute control over all events that are happening. All attacks become effective while opponents attacks will continuously miss. This can only be activated for 30 seconds at a time at Shiro's present endurance stage. _Requires:_ extreme endurance.**

 **Sorry for the long wait, I finally got rid of my writer's block for the end of the stain/internship arc :) please let me know how this chapter was!**


	27. Their Promise

**Disclaimer** : _Boku no Hero Academia_ characters and plot events belongs to _Horikoshi Kohei._

* * *

 **To Be a Hero**

 _their promise_

.

.

.

The following Monday, the students returned to U.A. Class 1-A was filled with laughter early in the morning as Kirishima and Sero made fun of the explosive blonde's hair.

"Stop laughing!" Bakugou was shaking with anger. Even after the internship with Best Jeanist, somehow his hair stayed in it's gelled down form and made him look like a damn prissy. He loathed everything about his internship. "My hair's gotten used to it, so it won't go back even after I wash it… I said, stop laughing!"

"Hahahahahahahahaha!"

From her own seat, Shiro had her lips pursed in order to not burst out laughing herself. Bakugou's hair was normal when she saw him that night during the Nomu attack, but he must've been dragged back and shaped up by the Pro Hero even harder after his display of anger and defiance. It was as if the blonde was playing dress-up while she went through grueling training. She only regretted not being able to see the blonde's face while he was being prim and primed.

"I'll kill you!"

"I'd like to see you try, Side-Part Boy!" Sero howled as he clutched his stomach.

 _"Pft,"_ Shiro let out a short chortle at the nickname. It was _too_ good; the male was getting a taste of his own medicine. _Good going, Sero!_

Bakugou's anger exploded along with a small blush when he heard the girl laugh as well. "I should've let your scattered-brain ass get roasted in that explosion!" he growled. At least, his anger effectively made his hair blow back up to normal, but it only made the guys laugh harder.

"It's back! Pahahahah!"

"Ah, Shiro-san! You never mentioned an explosion… Are you and Kacchan really okay?!" Midoriya fretted when he heard. Not many people thought much about the Nomu attacks that happened in two different cities because Stain was such a big deal, but being there to witness it first-hand, he knew the danger.

"It's a long story. No one got hurt, though," she replied reassuringly.

"It's not like we need your fucking concern, _nerd_ ," Bakugou slammed his hands on the boy's desk harshly. He pushed the boy aside as he went to take care of the other two who were still laughing at him, "Get lost!"

"You'd think he'd be happy with interning at the No. 4 Pro Hero's agency," Jiro wondered with an exasperated expression as she twirled an earphone jack. Kaminari followed her gaze as she shifted her eyes to Uraraka, who still had a certain intensity in her eyes and form from interning with Battle Hero: Gunhead. "Somehow, Uraraka's more terrifying right now. She's awakened."

"That's a huge change for just one week…" Kaminari agreed. "I was kind of fawned over and had a good time. But the ones who changed the most, or at least went through the most…" he turned to Midoriya, Iida, and Todoroki in the back of the room. "Had to be these three!"

"Oh yeah, the Hero Killer!" Sero remembered while being dragged by the collar by Bakugou. On the same boat, Kirishima nodded.

"I'm glad you guys made it out alive! Seriously."

As a few people gathered around the corner, Shiro looked at the hesitant green haired male next to her curiously before drawing her attention to the other two. "The news said Endeavor saved you guys," she stated. She had a feeling there was more to the story, though.

Todoroki thought back to what the Chief of police said to them and hesitated. "Yeah. He saved us," he mumbled.

"I saw on the news that the Hero Killer was connected to the League of Villains," Ojiro pitched in as well. "Imagining someone _that_ scary coming to USJ freaks me out."

"He _is_ scary, but did you see the video, Ojiro?" Kaminari jumped down from his desk and walked over to join the guys. "That video about the Hero Killer's origin and ambitions gave me the chills. It keeps getting taken down and re-uploaded, too. Basically, you can see how he's really single-minded and, like, tenacious. But at the same time… Doesn't it almost make you think he's cool?"

"Kaminari-kun!" Midoriya whisper-shouted with urgency. The blonde blinked for a moment before realizing what he said. Aside from the three who got caught in the situation, Iida's brother was _still_ in the hospital recovering from Stain's attack and he dared to say something so offhanded and tactless.

"S-Sorry!" he apologized.

"No, it's fine," Iida dismissed. "It's true that he was tenacious, so I can understand how people could think he's cool. But he chose purging as a result of his beliefs. No matter what he thinks, that part of it is definitely wrong. In order to keep anyone else from turning out like me, I will once again walk on the path to becoming a hero!"

"Yeah, Iida-kun!" Midoriya encouraged in the background.

"Now, it's time to commence class! Everyone, take your seats!"

As the rest of the class lamented Kaminari for saying something so weird and getting the male started on spewing out his loud orders, Shiro hummed with contentment. She was glad that the class president was genuinely back to his old self. From the sound of it, everyone had some interesting stories from their internships, and it seemed like they've learned a few things, too.

* * *

"I AM HERE!"

All Might stood with all his glory in front of Ground Gamma where the class was gathered for their hero basic training for the day. It was an industrial-looking site with a labyrinth of factories and heavy machinery. Shiro noted the abundance of pipelines and cranes and wondered what they will be doing today.

"We'll get started now. Right. It's hero basic training!" the Symbol of Peace greeted with his signature grin. "Long time no see, boys and girls! For this time's hero basic training—since you've all just gotten back from your internships, we'll have some fun with a rescue training race!"

Iida raised his hand high.

"If we are doing rescue training, then shouldn't we do it at USJ?"

"That place is for training for disasters," All Might replied enthusiastically. "Remember what I said? That's right! I said 'race'! This is Ground Gamma, a densely packed area full of factories. You'll break up into three 5-person and one 6-person groups and go through the training one group at a time. In different locations that are equidistance to where I will be standing, you will then come to me once I send out a distress signal. It's a race to see who will rescue me first!" he explained and pointed specifically at someone.

"Of course, you'll have to keep damage to the buildings to a minimum!"

"Don't point at me when you say that!" Bakugou gritted while looking away.

 _In other words, he wants to see if we have improved in skill after our internships,_ Shiro thought with understanding.

 _Group A: Midoriya, Ojiro, Sero, Iida, Ashido_

 _Group B: Aisaka, Bakugou, Todoroki, Asui, Mineta_

 _Group C: Koda, Jiro, Tokoyami, Kirishima, Shoji_

 _Group D: Yaoyorozu, Uraraka, Sato, Kaminari, Hagakure, Aoyama_

"Here they are!" All Might showed them the charts where each person in the groups were to go for their location. No two locations were identical across the four groups. "Group A will go first! The rest of you guys will wait at the stage inside where you'll be able to see your classmates' progress!"

The hero departed after that to get into his own location to give out the rescue signal for the first group. The rest of the class stood or sat in front of the big screen where the faces of the first five students were displayed.

"This group has everyone in the class with good mobility," Kaminari noted in awe. "I'm kinda glad I'm not going first."

"Hmm, perhaps Midoriya-san is at a slight disadvantage," Momo stated empirically while Jiro joined to sit beside the girl.

"That's true. Honestly, I'm still not sure how good he is."

"Whenever he does something, he always gets badly injured…"

"Who do you think'll win?" Kirishima asked the class excitedly as he theorized. "I think it'll be Sero!"

"Ojiro's there, though. I think it'll be him," Kaminari rebutted. He had heard the tail Quirk user defeat villains by himself at the fire-hazard zone back at USJ. He had to be really fast and strong for that!

Mineta shook his head, "I think it'll be Ashido! She's really athletic!"

" _Deku_ will be last!" Bakugou declared without a second thought and Shiro had to roll her eyes at his usual antagonism towards the green haired male. Though, she was wondering herself who was going to take the first place. She guessed Iida, but he was still injured and hadn't fully recovered. It was a disadvantage for sure, but she didn't know if it was enough to slow the determined male down.

"What do you think, Todoroki-san?" she asked Todoroki. Since he was with Iida and Midoriya for part of the internship, his opinion will probably weigh more than the rest.

"It might be Midoriya," he said.

Shiro blinked in surprise at his answer but the signal for rescue blared at that moment and everyone's attention went on the screen to the five jumping into action. It was like the class predicted, Sero was at an advantage because of his tape Quirk and he easily swung around the pipes and got in the lead. Mina was using her acid to slide down pipes faster as well, and Ojiro was a master at parkour and maneuvering around obstacles like these. Similarly, Iida's injury didn't seem to affect his resolve at all, and he was giving it his all as he dashed through the labyrinth. It was like watching a very intense round of Mario Kart.

"See! In a place all jumbled together like this, it's standard practice to go up! Sero has the advantage!" Kirishima cheered proudly. The others grumbled and watched on, not giving up on their first-place guesses yet. It was as if they were each betting on their winning horse at a horse racing rally.

Just then, a flash of green entered the screen, and everyone was surprised to see that Midoriya had somehow jumped in front of Sero and took the lead along with him. This training was perfect for people who were good in the air—and apparently, Midoriya was one of them!

 _Wow,_ Shiro marveled and glanced back at the silent dual-Quirk user, "He's so much different now."

Todoroki's eyes left the screen as he nodded. He'd seen it first-hand when Midoriya rushed to save him from Stain. "He's definitely improved since the sports festival," he said. "During our internships... It seems that he learned to bridge the weakness gap that his Quirk left him."

"I agree..." the girl nodded slowly before a small grin appeared on her face. "But it's not just Midoriya-san. We're all learning and compensating for any weaknesses."

"Yeah," Todoroki smiled softly, and he can't help but notice how striking she looked with such determination and confidence. He quickly looked away from her face when she furrowed her brows slightly and spoke again.

"Hey Todoroki-san, don't you think his moves…" she wondered and focused more. "He's hopping like... Bakugou," she finished the thought and they both looked at the blonde.

"Damn _nerd_...!" Bakugou seethed in realization. Just the thought of the worthless runt copying his moves and getting better and closer to catching up to him was infuriating. _Who does the nerd think he is?!_

At the end, Sero still received first place because of Midoriya's slip-up towards the finish line from not being used to his new moves completely yet. But everyone was surprised, nonetheless.

"Next group, get ready!" All Might's voice boomed through the area and the five tensed up.

* * *

 _BEEP!_

Upon hearing the signal, Shiro dashed from her spot. She was on the south side of the factory labyrinth and the complete opposite of Todoroki, so she didn't have to worry about his Quirk and she just had to be faster. Having the map memorized, she knew that to get to All Might, one of the faster ways was to take a turn a quarter of the way there where she will most likely run into Bakugou. Since this was not a combat training, she didn't have to worry about fighting the male, but with is temper especially flared by Midoriya earlier she knew she had to be careful. On the other hand, if she chose to go straight and take a turn later, she will likely encounter Mineta. She felt he wouldn't be too hard to shake off, but his sticky spheres were a nightmare to avoid…

Activating her Quirk, she brushed any uncertainties away and went for the best course.

Her visor's vision gave her a clear view of the others that were in the air and making their way towards the center where All Might was standing; Todoroki's ice was effect at filling the gapes between the pipes as he slid around much like Mina did and Tsuyu's frog-like ability allowed her to stick to the sides of buildings and grab onto pipes with her long, stretchy tongue. Even Mineta was bouncing on his spheres that propelled him around like a pinball.

Bakugou, on her left, was exploding his way through the air with agility. He was the _true_ master of his movements. "Outta my way!" he shouted as he fired a blast to accelerate himself off the pipes.

"Of course, let me just move out of the way for you—like hell!" Shiro rolled her eyes at the déjà vu of being left in the blonde's dust as he jumped ahead of her with his superior speed and strength. _Not this time!_

She had trained for this exact moment. She was going to let the grueling days of running underwater and dodging obstacles go to waste. Her body was lighter, faster, and most of all, better at using her Quirk now. Her right eye spun wildly, and a field of calculations spread around her; she could see the precise percentage of everything she needed to pass the blonde and it formed the exact path that she needed to take.

 _There!_

Bakugou widened his eyes when Shiro shot past him within seconds and he twisted his body around in a way that will speed up his own velocity. Explosions from his hands grew more intense as he jumped right behind her, but he suddenly found that no matter what he did, he couldn't pass her. An invisible force was literally keeping him behind her and he was not fast enough to react against it!

 _She's done something to the probability field around herself,_ he realized and was forced to hop away to a distance. Gritting his teeth, he took an alternative path. "This ain't over, Pigtails!"

Shiro could see the end point and where All Might was standing. She could also see that Todoroki was a shorter distance away on the other side. Her probability zone shut off because 30 seconds had passed, and now she had to find her own way.

Suddenly, she saw it—the pipeline that was running above her head and across the area, dropping off just a few feet away from the building All Might was standing on. Ripping the black and white ribbons from her hair, she jumped up and swung them over the pipe and held on tight as she let gravity take her down the sloped pipe at an extremely fast speed. The wind made her hair wave wildly around her and she forced herself to focus at the right moment to release her ribbons and gain a firm footing for that last burst of speed to reach All Might.

"AGGGGGHHHHH!"

Just as she dropped off, Bakugou had shot his body forward with the release of one of his powerful explosions and was headed right for her. She can twist to the side, but if she did so, she would be letting the blonde have a straight shot to first place because she will lose her own momentum to push off on her landing. If she didn't move and continued her own path down, then Bakugou will be forced to switch his straight shot course and let her take first.

The answer was obvious; he wouldn't switch his course.

But she was still going take the gamble.

 _She's going to force me to move again?_ Bakugou's red eyes narrowed as the intense scowl on his face deepened. He shot his arm out. Shiro had forced him to take an alternate path already and he was not about to do that again! No matter what, he was going to get _first_.

Even if it meant that he had to take her along with him.

The girl's lips quirked up victoriously when he looped his arm around her body before the collision and used the other to continue to propel him forward. He saw that she wasn't using her Quirk at that moment, so she had used her raw intellect to form two possible ways that the situation was going to end up and gambled with a third option that was going to annoy him the most but also force him to do exactly what she wanted.

 _She fucking outsmarted me,_ he thought as they stumbled onto the platform together. Todoroki was just a second behind. Bakugou couldn't condemn her decision because even he had to admit it was genius, but that didn't make him any less pissed off. _First Deku, now Pigtails… I'm the only one who spent my time uselessly at my internship… This again… Damn it…!_

"You beat me this time," Todoroki congratulated the girl.

"It was too close," Shiro said with a light frown. "I was lucky you weren't on the same side. I had a hard enough time getting ahead of Bakugou..."

The male's heterochromatic eyes shone lightly, "I would have blown both of you away. Next time, I'll get first."

 _"Shit! Shitheads!"_ Bakugou shouted behind them in the meantime, still being consumed with anger.

"THANK YOU!" All Might presented them with a sash that said 'thanks for saving me' once all five got onto the platform. He gave them a heroic grin, "Young Bakugou and Aisaka tied for first, but it was a close one with Young Todoroki as well! Everyone did wonderful! Compared to the beginning of the year, you've gotten a lot better at using your Quirks. Keep going like this and start preparing for your final exam!"

After the hero encouraged them, Shiro wiped the sweat from her forehead as her gaze lingered longer on the man. The rest of the group walked off to let the third group start their training and she was the last one to do so in order to get the hero alone for a few seconds. Todoroki noticed, but he respected their privacy and stepped off.

"All Might…!" Shiro called out and the man turned around.

"Yes, Young Aisaka?"

"I don't know if I should ask this," she started with a hesitating look in her eyes. "But it's about some memories that I started to retain… Eraserhead said you'll be able to help?"

All Might's eyes widened with surprise as he looked at the nervous girl. _She must have remembered something important if Aizawa is sending her my way. Ah, the day has come…_ The hero suddenly suppressed a cough as he realized that he can hold his form for the day for only a while longer. He could hold out until the end of class and talk to Shiro, but that will mean that he might have to postpone his talk with Midoriya about One For All like his mentor had urged him to reveal. Perhaps it was his way of delaying the inevitable...

"Sorry, I don't know why Eraserhead told me to bother you," Shiro apologized when the hero didn't speak. "I'll get going now—"

"Ah, I was just spacing out!" he finally came back to his senses and gave her a small thumbs up. "Aizawa-kun is right, I do have something I need to tell you. Come find me after class. I'll tell you the truth then."

 _The truth?_

* * *

In the locker rooms, both the girls and the boys where changing back into their school uniforms after the completion of today's training. It was fun and eye-opening, as well as encouraging to them that there were some notable improvements. They were just a small step closer into becoming real heroes.

In the girls' locker room, they were chatting about how their test went.

"Ahhh, I got all sweaty after running so hard to catch up to Sero," Mina complained as she took off her hero suit. "But it was a good workout! Getting praised by All Might was pretty awesome, too!"

"Mina-chan's the most athletic between us girls," Hagakure commented. "I still didn't stand out at all!"

"Don't say that!" Uraraka encouraged while patting the girl's back. "All Might-sensei said we _all_ improved in some way. Don't be so hard on yourself."

"Hmm, I guess you're right!"

"I, for one, admire Aisaka-san's ability to act so quickly in a situation to make it work in her favor," Momo disclosed with a contemplating look. There was a certain frustration in her tone and her eyes look downcast. "Among other things, it's also what I need to work on..."

"Me too," Tsuyu said while tipping a finger on her chin. "Shiro-chan goes in without hesitation. But that's also why she's always butting heads with Bakugou-chan."

Shiro drew out of her distraction with a blink upon hearing her name. She was thinking about her short interchange with All Might earlier; as she was about to answer the two girls, a strange voice came from the wall that was separating the girls' and boys' changing rooms.

 _What was that noise?_ they thought. Jiro was the best with pinpointing sound and she immediately found the source with a creepy feeling crawling up her skin.

"Oi... What the hell is _that_?"

* * *

Mineta was having a field day after accidentally discovering a small hole that was behind a falling poster. He could thank the gods above for this godsend opportunity to take a peek at the paradise that laid on the other side.

On Mineta's right, Midoriya was deep in thought as he took off his shirt. After his test trial, All Might had disclosed that he needed to talk to him after school about something and it looked serious. But then, he caught another signal from the hero telling him to wait a little while after Shiro had come up to him. There was a worried look in the hero's eyes and it made Midoriya worry as well.

 _I wonder what that was all about. Shiro-san went up to him to ask something, I'm sure of it..._ his green eyes widened slightly when he made the connection. _Could it be what All Might told me before about Shiro-san's lost memories?_

"Hey, Midoriya!"

Midoriya turned his head towards the purple-headed male. He was being beckoned to look over at a hole behind a poster.

"I discovered something crazy. Come here! Look at this hole! It's probably thanks to the efforts of those who came before us! Next door is, you know—" Mineta said with a crazed hush as steam was practically coming out of his nose. Some of the others near them also heard and a jolt of risque and excitement coursed through their minds.

 _The girls' locker room!_

"Stop, Mineta-kun!" Iida's hand swung out rigidly. "Peeping is definitely a criminal act!"

"My _little Mineta_ is already a criminal act!" the boy quavered excitedly before tearing off the whole poster. No one was going to stop him from his paradise!

"What the _fuck_ is he trying to peep at?" Bakugou was annoyed at all of the commotion at the far end of the room because he can't even stew in his anger in _peace_. Kirishima was next to him and tried to explain.

"I think that hole leads to another locker room—" he whispered with a small blush on his cheeks only because the thought of such an act was so unmanly and impure.

"So?!"

"As in, the locker room where Shiro-chan and the other girls are!"

Bakugou's red eyes widened and he suddenly felt his anger intensify. On his other side, Todoroki had fire in his eyes while the ground below his right foot was shooting out a trail of ice.

"Yaoyorozu's ample _yaoyoro-boobs!_ Ashido's _slender_ waist! Hagakure's floating _underwear!_ Uraraka's fine _uraraka-body!_ Asui's _unexpected_ boobies! Aisaka's sinful _bubble butt_ —!"

At the same time, Bakugou's explosion hit the ice shard that was heading Mineta's way and caused a large impact of smoke and ice debris. The short male was unaffected from that but he was rolling on the ground in agony while nursing the eye that got jabbed by the Earphone Jack user's Quirk on the other side.

"Jiro-san's Earphone Jack!" Midoriya was both impressed and in shock. "With its brutal combination of precision and surprise attack abilities, it's super strong!"

"You got in my way," Todoroki's tone was harsh. His eyes narrowed dangerously at Bakugou.

"Ha?!" Bakugou growled with his palms popping with sparks. He rushed to grab Todoroki's collar but was stopped by Kirishima throwing his arms around to restrain him. " _Your_ ice stopped _me_ from killing that Balls-For-Brains!"

"Calm down, Bakugou!" Kirishima cried while struggling to hold the male back. "It's all good now! You can't fight in the locker room!"

"Let go! Come at me, Half-and-Half Bastard!"

"Kacchan...!" Midoriya attempted feebly before he grew even more scared when he saw that Todoroki wasn't backing down either as fire lit on his left side.

"If that's what you want... I'll finish what I couldn't at the sports festival!"

"T-Todoroki-kun!"

* * *

Back on the other side, the girls were both angry and embarrassed at their almost-exposure to the perverted Pop-Off male. They couldn't believe there was a hole in the wall. How long had it been there?!

"Thanks Kyoka-chan!" Hagakure babbled as she covered her undergarments with her uniform blouse. "I can't believe Mineta-kun!"

"How despicable," Momo muttered with a blush. "Let us close this up right away!"

Jiro's face was gloomed over as she retracted her jack. _I'm the only one he didn't say anything about_ … she thought before the girls all heard even louder shouts from the other side. It wasn't Mineta, but Bakugou and Todoroki seemed to be going at it if they judged from the booms and explosions.

"Why are _Bakugou-kun_ and _Todoroki-kun_ fighting over there?!" Uraraka exclaimed, projecting everyone's thoughts out loud.

* * *

"Young Aisaka! Come in."

It was now after school, and Shiro sat across from All Might in the staff breakroom. The hero's large form seemed to engulf the chair that he pulled up besides the wooden table and he offered the girl a warm cup of tea, which she took but did not drink from.

"So, do you want to start with what you know?" All Might asked.

Drawing in a deep breath, she spoke.

"I'm not even sure of what I know. It really just feels like a dream to me," she said, her ruby eyes downcast on tea stem that was floating around in the cup. "I started to have dreams and visions of what I assume was snippets of my life before waking up in the hospital after the orphanage fire. The setting was never constant, but there was this one boy who I keep seeing."

"A boy?" All Might's expression darkened with thought. _Could it be?_

Shiro nodded, "I don't remember much… But in my fragmented memories, he was always there. I can at least tell that we were both orphans at that orphanage," she furrowed her brows and stared at the hero. "I don't get it. Why did Eraserhead tell me that you'd know anything about this? Do you know about my past?"

"I…" he didn't know how to start, so he started from the beginning. "Eleven years ago, your orphanage was attacked by a villain and you were one of the survivors."

"I know that."

"Ah, yes, well… I was the Pro Hero on the scene."

Shiro's eyes widened. From all things that the nurses, doctors, and even government official had told her, that was one thing that they left out. She was only ever told that a Pro Hero saved her, which was typical, and she never questioned it. She thought back to a hazy memory of a figure she saw right before the broken pillar crashed down on her. "That hero… Was you?"

The hero rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish laugh, "I didn't intend for it to be a secret. But after saving you, I was called away for an emergency, so I never found the time to properly visit you when you awoke. I then thought it would be weird to suddenly show up at Aizawa-kun's house a month after you got adjusted…" he blinked at the silent girl who had her head down and panicked. "A-Are you upset, Young Aisaka?! I—"

 _"Thank you,"_ her sincere words cut the hero off and he paused with a start. Shiro then looked up with an expression of gratitude. "I never got to thank the hero who saved me because I never knew who he was, but now that I know… I can say that without you, I will not be here in U.A. or anywhere else. So, thank you!"

All Might bit back his words as the girl thanked him. He wasn't quite sure he deserved it.

"When I was ordered to be passed onto the care of Eraserhead, was that from you, too…?"

"You can say that," he smiled sadly. "It was the least I can do."

"…What do you mean?"

"The truth is, I could see from the start that your Quirk had the potential to be very powerful. Along with that power comes a destructive possibility. It was partially out of duty as the Symbol of Peace that I entrusted you with Aizawa-kun to make sure that you never returned to an orphanage where you can potentially be taken by the wrong people," All Might clenched a fist hard as he thought about the All For One, someone who can literally take Quirks for himself and the reason why he was in his emaciated state. "But more so than duty, I owed it to you for not being able to help you back then."

"But you _did_ help me," Shiro was confused. "I'm alive. What more could I ask of you?"

"That's true, but you did have one request for me, and I was unable to fulfill it… You said in your memories, there was a boy who kept appearing?"

The girl was apprehensive of where this was going, but she stayed calm and nodded.

"I have a feeling… He may be the brother you entrusted me to save," he revealed and drew in a deep breath. "But I had to get you out of the building before the whole thing collapsed, and when I went back, there was no one else inside. It is possible that—"

"W-Wait!" Shiro felt her heartbeat drum up into her ears. What was it that All Might just said? That she had a _brother_? He was _joking_ , right? She laughed dryly, "That doesn't make sense… Y-You're wrong..."

"I'm not mistaken, Young Aisaka," All Might said as the air grew tense around them. "I checked with the surviving staff and they confirmed that you had a brother, or at least someone who was like one to you when you guys arrived at the orphanage. Though, they couldn't say much about either of you as the paperwork in the first place never existed. There was no description to go off on, but every kid was saved and none of them claimed to be your brother. When you lost your memory, we were advised to not try to bring him up lest it trigger anymore trauma that would affect your brain. I'm sorry."

 _I have a brother..._

It kept echoing in her head as she tried to take in what the hero was saying. It was as if suddenly all those choppy, fuzzy memories she'd had made sense. Her head pounded.

 _"Play with me!"_

The echoes of her laughter down the hallway of the orphanage.

 _"Leave him! Tenko… He is a disaster."_

 _Tenko_ , the name of her _brother_.

 _"Nii-san... Nii-san..."_

She now vaguely remembers her whimpers during the fire at the orphanage; how desperately she wanted to find him because she was alone and scared.

The cup of tea was long forgotten on the floor as the liquid spilled on the ground and glistened under the orange rays of the setting sun. All Might sat silently as he allowed the girl time to process all of the information. She could be confused or even apprehensive and he was ready for anything. He bit back a cough that threatened to crawl up his throat from his weakening body. _Shit, I cannot hold this form much longer..._

Shiro was so deep in her thoughts as the hero hunched slightly and went to cover his mouth. The thoughts that swirled inside her head was like a dark cloud that obscured her vision.

 _I have a brother...! He was with me at the orphanage... All Might was there. He couldn't save him. He couldn't save my brother. My brother...! Who's at fault who's at fault who's at fault—_

"Young Aisaka..."

She was shaking with dark thoughts. Who could she blame for this? Herself? The hero? Shaking her head, she couldn't hear what All Might was trying tell her as her chest rose and fell at a rapid speed.

"Young Aisaka, _I—_ "

Loud and guttural hacks from the hero's coughing snapped her out of her panic and her eyes shot up towards the hunched-over hero. There was blood at the corner of his mouth and something steam-like that was releasing from his body.

"All... Might?" she stood up abruptly just as the door to the break room slammed open to reveal an out-of-breath Midoriya. He successfully diverted the girl's attention briefly as his own eyes grew wide.

 _He's changing back to his emaciated form! I can't let Shiro-san see this...!_

"Shiro-san!"

Shiro was worried and suspicious of why the boy looked so scared with tears in his eyes. However, she was refusing to leave the hero in whatever was happening. _What's with this steam that's coming out of All Might?! Was he attacked without me knowing?!_

"Y-You have to leave, now!" Midoriya gritted his teeth and went to grab the girl, but he was stopped by All Might's voice.

"It's all right, Young Midoriya," the hero assured sadly as the smoke cleared. It was too late to stop it. The two students stopped struggling and took in the hero's current form. Midoriya dropped his hands and it clenched at his sides with frustration while Shiro staggered back a few steps.

 _Isn't that the skinny man I saw back then—?_

"What... _What_ is going on?!"

All Might could only offer a sad smile while Midoriya looked away with his lips quivering.

"This is how I am for the majority of the day now. I didn't expect to show you so soon, but it can't be helped. I do owe you for not being able to save your brother... So this secret is all right to be known to you."

"But..." she whispered coarsely, numbly.

"Please have a seat, and I'll tell you."

* * *

After learning of All Might's fight with All For One and why he became like this, Shiro was shocked beyond what words could comprehend. The only people in the world that knew of the hero's current form were his own mentor, the Pro Heroes in U.A., the principal, the detective from the USJ incident, and Midoriya.

"Still, why Midoriya-san?" she murmured and the green haired male jolted next to her.

"There is a reason behind it that I cannot tell you," All Might said, but his eyes held a knowing look. "You're a smart girl, Young Aisaka... Maybe even without me telling you, you might... Anyhow. I hope you can understand this for now."

 _Even Young Bakugou from the beginning had his suspicions. Yet I cannot tell him._

The conversation she had overheard during the sports festival echoed in her mind. Midoriya's destructive Quirk. The fact that All Might was mentoring him. Shiro could lay the information down and somewhat connect them now... The inner workings were still unclear, but she didn't feel the need to ask further since the hero had already revealed so much.

 _I can't believe this..._

It made her almost want to laugh at her foolishness from earlier... She was really contemplating on _blaming_ the hero for her missing brother. Her mind was completely clouded but now it was clear. The courageous Symbol of Peace had done so much for the world to the point that he was left with a weakened body, and he was _still_ carrying on and protecting people with what power he had left.

Here _she_ was, selfishly only thinking about her own grief.

 _What an idiot I am._

"All Might..." she stood up from her seat and gave him a deep bow. "I'm so sorry!"

"W-Why is that?!" the hero waved his hands around in a panic. "Young Aisaka, this is not your fault!"

"Let me say this first, please..." she maintained as she continued what she wanted to say. "I've wondered since the sports festival... But now that I know, I will make sure to keep this a secret. Thank you for trusting me. And... I wanted to apologize for earlier. When you told me about what happened to my brother and how you couldn't save him, my thoughts went dark. I'm so sorry."

"Is that so..." All Might blinked and his expression softened. "It's okay. I've been wanting to apologize to you for a long time. Even if there were no bodies found in the ruins and he likely survived, I was unable to bring him to you. But I had vowed before that if someday you were to regain your memories and remembered him, I will do anything in my power to find him even if it's the last thing I do. I still intend to do that."

Shiro clenched her fists on her knees. All Might _is_ the greatest hero... And for him to be there that day when he saved her was a blessing. "Thank you. Thank you... So much... For looking after me... For _everything_..."

"Of course," the man smiled and patted the girl on the head. "So don't worry... Because I am here."

Shiro nodded with tears in her eyes at the hero's words. _For however long you have waited, nii-san..._

All Might watched the crying girl with a serious expression. _For however long that I have left..._

They both set their resolve.

 _I will find you._

* * *

"Master," Kurogiri greeted at the TV screen that was showing nothing but static. He was reporting about their progress; Shigaraki was currently not present but the master didn't mind. The figureless voice was more interested in the unstable male's well-being.

 _"How is Shigaraki doing?"_

The Portal Villain dutifully reported Shigaraki's state of being, but he also added his concern about the male's decision to target Shiro with their Nomu attacks during the U.A. students' internships. Even though the girl was unharmed at the end, he still felt that Shigaraki's hatred ran too deep with the girl and it might mess up the specific order of keeping her alive. "Should I stop Shigaraki Tomura next time?"

 _"No need."_

"But Master, the anger he has—"

 _"I am aware. However, Shigaraki does not truly hate her,"_ the voice chuckled, surprising Kurogiri. The master knew Shigaraki best; he had raised him for many years after the tragedy of the orphanage, after all. He understood the male's emotions and it was easy to manipulate the unstable male completely to push forward his agenda and goals. "Let him do as he pleases. He knows to not disappoint me. He'll learn and grow."

Indeed, Shigaraki was the _perfect_ successor.

"Understood," Kurogiri obeyed. "But if I may ask, Master... How are you certain?"

 _"The hatred he has for the girl is merely a response to the abandonment he currently feels. A response **I** instilled in him. But once we bring the girl into our organization and back to his side, he will no longer hold that grudge because..."_

* * *

"This is All Might's fault..." Shigaraki muttered as he stared intently at the torn picture of his sister, his fingers careful to not disintergrate it. He brought it everywhere he went just to make sure that it never disappeared. All of his hatred, loathing, and obsessed facination was drawn into this single picture.

"All his fault..."

* * *

 _"S_ _higaraki loves his sister to the point of obsession_ _,"_ All For One chuckled ominously. _"_ _And soon, they'll be reunited."_

* * *

 **Ahhh I had so much fun writing this chapter! So Shiro finally knows about the existence of her brother, as well as All Might's current state (but she doesn't know of the OFA ability). Aaaand, Shigaraki's obsessive behavior reveals a twist! He hates Shiro, yes, but he hates her _because_ he loves her yet she "abandoned" him. What a weird dude. **

**_Please_ leave a review :) It's the only way I can know if this story still peaks interest. **


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